Left to the Elements
by TayMor
Summary: After Deidara blows up the mountainside cave of a mysterious young woman with no memories and strange abilities, the Akatsuki capture and recruit her for a task only she can successfully complete. Yachiru is not wanted only by the Akatsuki, but by Konoha and someone else entirely. All three sides have close ties to her but who will she choose to stand beside? Discontinued.
1. Prologue

**So this is a Naruto fanfic. It's not in any specific world so don't think about that too much. Pairings will be NaruYachi (new character), ShikaTen, and KibaHina... I just maay toss in some ItaSaku.. but that will be later down...**

-Prologue-

_Flashback is written in italics._

'_Thoughts in italics and enclosed in quotes'_

Normal writing is in normal text.

"Dialogue is in normal text enclosed in open and closed quotations."

'_**Black Zetsu and Kyuubi speak in bold italics enclosed in quotations.'**_

**Bold text shows time frames and places. **

**2 months ago...**

**Somewhere in the ocean...**

_The mutterings of the man hidden in the dark recesses of the room were too low to be heard by his white-haired prisoner, almost inaudible over the sounds of crashing thunder from outside. All she knew was that she was quickly being weakened. She struggled against her bonds, seeing nothing but the wooden chair she was sitting on and the floor beneath her in the dim lighting. She was muzzled, and her arms and legs were strapped securely to the arms and legs of the chair. She pushed against her bonds again but the effort was futile. A sense of intense loss came over her. She was losing something important to her at this very moment, but what was it?_

_At the same time that lightning snapped and crackled outside, an intense pain in the left side of her chest had her arching back in the chair. Oh, how her heart ached! The mutterings ceased after a particularly loud burst of thunder, but the pain was still there, still intense. Her writhing body finally had the chair keeling over backwards, toppling over with her still strapped to it. Her muzzle became loose, and for a moment, instinct took over. There was a burst of heat around her entire body and she was free, but her sluggish thought processes mingled with her fight or flight mode had no time to figure out why she was free._

_'Have to get out. Get out! Get Away!' she thought. It was all she could think as she scrambled to her feet and swung towards the door of the room. Desperation set in when the lock refused to open regardless of her efforts jiggling the doorknob._

_The door to the room burst open from the force of her shoulder ramming into it and she was out. The sight before her dizzied her for a second. Only a second, though. She was on the upper deck of a boat, the floor slick with rain underneath her bare feet, but the sight of the high black waves on either side of the ship sent fear slithering into the pit of her stomach. The skies were the darkest shade of grey, with jagged white bolts of lightning snapping across it, and torrents of cold biting rain were pouring down onto the seas and onto the girl. She ran, not knowing where she would escape to, but at this point it didn't matter._

_She stepped out into the howling wind which caused her long white hair to stream behind her, and her brownish rags, which were already soaked, to flutter a bit in the high wind. A quick glance to the left revealed an armour-clad guard advancing, and her ears caught the clomping sound of her captor getting closer as he crossed the room behind her. She ran out onto the deck, her feet slipping on the wet floor, almost sending her to her face. Fortunately she caught herself and continued running. Without warning, the ship tipped, sending her forward onto her stomach. She skated into the side of the ship, crying out in pain as she made contact with the hard, cold metal. Another huge wave had her sliding, on her side this time, across the deck. Her pursuers were clinging to the safety rungs on the exterior walls of the ship's cabin. She had no such luck. She crashed head-first into the metal sides of the boat, the impact further stunning her already foggy mind. As the ship descended the other side of the high wave, she struggled to her feet, one hand clasping her clammy forehead. Her head was spinning, effectively cutting off coherent thought._

_The ship tipped again and she was vaulting over the edge of the railing on the side of the ship. Her vision faded to black before she hit the churning water below her._

**Present day...**

**Near the River Country/Fire Country Border at the coast...**

"Art is a BANG, un!" The male voice pushed through Yachiru's sleep and into her consciousness, but the explosion following had all vestiges of sleep fleeing from her mind. Her eyes flying open, Yachiru found she was already standing, legs planted firmly to the ground, knees bent and arms positioned for the offensive. Her previously cosy, dark cave was now illuminated by the intense light from outside.

'_What the hell?'_ she thought, her mind reeling as the last wisps of sleep crawled from her brain. Footsteps sounded over the gentle sound of the sea nearby and a masculine figure stepped into the light.

"Sasori... true art is fleeting, un," the voice was saying. "Did you see how beautiful that was?" A flash of blonde hair waving in the wind that was the after math of the explosion came into Yachiru's periphery as the man stepped into the hole he had created in her cave. Yachiru took the time to peruse the figure that was responsible for the destruction of her cave and for the invasion of her privacy.

He was tall and slim with wide shoulders and was covered in an ankle length black coat with red clouds on it. He had a long blonde lock of hair that cascaded over one side of his forehead and an attractive but almost girly face – the majority of which was covered by a straw hat with white streamers hanging from it. He had one hand on a hip as he proudly surveyed his handiwork.

"True art is eternal," a softer voiced male sounded behind the intruder, irritation seeping into his tone. Yachiru could feel the both men's chakra. They were significantly high.

"What the hell are you doing in my cave? You freaking blew a hole in it, you miscreant!" Deidara's attention snapped from his teammate and to the source of the voice. He had not even noticed her in there! She was a slim slip of a girl with curves in all the right places and white hair that flowed to her hips in straight, silky smooth strands. Deidara's eyes widened, expressing masculine appreciation.

"Well, well! We have ourselves a sexy creature in this cave." He leered at the beauty. It was obvious that his actions riled her for her white eyebrows drew together in annoyance.

"Get the hell out of my cave, girl," the cave's inhabitant sneered. Deidara's hackles rose.

'_Who is she calling 'girl'?'_ his mind yelled indignantly. He stepped closer to her, still appreciating her fine features even though she had insulted him so greatly.

"I'm not a girl, un!" He yelled, storming closer to her. "I am an Akatsuki!" He shouted it as if it was supposed to mean something to Yachiru. It didn't. She scoffed.

"What the _hell_ is an Akatsuki?" she sneered. "Some type of cross-dresser or something?" Maybe if she annoyed him enough he would leave her alone. His eyebrow twitched.

"How can you not know what an Akatsuki is?" He straightened to his full height. "We are the most powerful shinobi group, yeah." Yachiru raised an eyebrow. "...while _you_ are just a civilian. You would stand no chance against an _artist_ like me," he sneered, crossing the cave to get over to her.

One moment, Deidara was advancing, getting closer to her, and the next moment he was back at the opening to the cave he had created with his clay explosives. He shook his head. Must be some sort of genjutsu. Making a quick hand-signal, he readied himself to escape the genjutsu.

"Kai!" he shouted. The situation felt unchanged. The woman on the other side smirked in amusement, dropping her previously raised hand to her sides. Deidara stalked over to her again, but this time he was conscious that even though he was placing one foot ahead of the other, he was most definitely going backwards.

'_What is this?'_ his mind screamed, struggling to grasp the situation. He was feeling absolutely no evidence of chakra from her, and he could usually pick up shinobi even if they were _cloaking_ their chakra. The must be a genjutsu, so why couldn't he break free? The final blow to his already struggling brain came right after that.

After a particularly ardent "Kai", Deidara was stalking over to the now chuckling woman. He was about seven feet away from her when there was a low rumble and he walked in to a solid rock wall. Deidara blinked, his nose still brushing the stone in front him. Footsteps sounded behind him and Sasori shuffled into the space he had blasted into the wall earlier.

"You are losing it, ne, Deidara?" Sasori mumbled blandly. "Who were you talking to? There's no one here." The puppet master smirked, the wind from outside sending the white streamers on his straw hat fluttering to one side, revealing a boyish face topped with messy red hair. Deidara grunted, spinning to face Sasori.

"Someone was there, un!" he insisted, his brows scrunched together. "Chick with white hair ... she was so weird! She's got no chakra and she has me in some kind of genjutsu, un!" It was clear from Sasori's expression that he did not believe his partner. Deidara set his jaw, spinning round to face the rock wall. He stuffed his hands into his clay pouch, the mouths on his palms crunching the clay and spitting out small clay insects. Deidara stepped away from the wall, tossed them to wall.

"Katsu!" he shouted. "Art is an explosion!" The yell was made over the sound as the clay insects detonated, crumbling the rock wall before him. The gaping hole exposed a cavern with a small cot against the far wall. The white haired woman standing with her back turned to them halted, her rigid posture displaying extreme annoyance. "Told you there was a chick, un," Deidara said triumphantly to Sasori. However, Sasori had already exited the cave. Annoyed, Deidara stalked over to the girl, trying not to get distracted by how gorgeous she was. Before she could move, Deidara grabbed her by the throat and pushed her up against the rock walls of the cave. She didn't even have the good graces to look scared, but rather glared at him angrily. Her defiance annoyed him. "I should blow you up right now," he sneered.

"As if," the female scoffed, her eyes taunting him. That made Deidara serious. He _would_ blow the bitch up. One hand went to his pouch, but before he could make a decent bomb, the breath whooshed out of his lungs as her knee slammed into his stomach. The next thing he knew he was being launched from in front her, his back slamming into the opposite cave wall with such force that he went right through the wall and through to the open air outside!

**A/N:- So this is my first fanfic - go easy on meehh please! Please please review! New chapter will be coming as soon as I can get it up, and your reviews shall make me type faster! PM me with any questions! PEECE!**


	2. Captured!

***Chapter 2 – Uncovered!***

**You may have realized by now that Yachiru is a little different to the norm. That is because there is a little bit of a twist to this fanfiction. I took a bit from another anime, but not enough to make this a crossover. Don't worry about the world that this Naruto fanfic came from, because it's not really any specific one. Pairings are NaruYachi, KibaHina (I think), and maybe some ItaSaku ne?**

**Shout out to those who reviewed! Thank you Psuedobeast and Guest! **

** Thanks to those who added the story or put me on author alert!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! (T_T) !**

_Flashback is written in italics._

_'Thoughts in italics and enclosed in quotes'_

Normal writing is in normal text.

"Dialogue is in normal text enclosed in open and closed quotations."

**_'Black Zetsu and Kyuubi speak in bold italics enclosed in quotations.'_**

**Previously on Left to the Elements:**

"Katsu!" he shouted. "Art is an explosion!" The yell was made over the sound as the clay insects detonated, crumbling the rock wall before him. The gaping hole exposed a cavern with a small cot against the far wall. The white haired woman standing with her back turned to them halted, her rigid posture displaying extreme annoyance. "Told you there was a chick, un," Deidara said triumphantly to Sasori. However, Sasori had already exited the cave. Annoyed, Deidara stalked over to the girl, trying not to get distracted by how gorgeous she was. Before she could move, Deidara grabbed her by the throat and pushed her up against the rock walls of the cave. She didn't even have the good graces to look scared, but rather glared at him angrily. Her defiance annoyed him. "I should blow you up right now," he sneered.

"As if," the female scoffed, her eyes taunting him. That made Deidara serious. He _would_ blow the bitch up. One hand went to his pouch, but before he could make a decent bomb, the breath whooshed out of his lungs as her knee slammed into his stomach. The next thing he knew he was being launched from in front her, his back slamming into the opposite cave wall with such force that he went right through the wall!

**oooOoo**

Deidara felt the air rushing past him as he broke through the rock wall. He caught sight of Sasori's surprised gaze as he soared past him, missing the redhead's nose by centimetres.

_'What the - ?'_ he thought as his back slammed into the pebbled beach, momentum causing him to skate several feet. His legs dropped to the ground with a 'plop' approximately two seconds after he stopped skating. Deidara slowly got to his feet, his back aching like never before his mind whirring. _'What the hell is going on?'_ he thought. He should not have paused to think, for the white haired female had launched herself out the hole Deidara's back had created and was running across the pebble-beach towards him, fury creasing her brow. She stopped some seven feet in front him, the blue sea stretching behind her. Deidara had to admit the sight was breathtaking.

Her purplish eyes blazing, she opened her mouth. Deidara expected more feisty words from her and frowned in expectation of an insult. What happened was not at all what he expected. Her chest puffed up for a short moment, then flames shot out of her mouth, rapidly eating up the already small distance between them, and bathing Deidara's face with searing heat. Deidara's nuke-nin reflexes kicked in, regardless of his surprise, and he leapt back, grunting in pain as his back took the shock of landing. He put one hand to it, and the other to his hair, which was mostly singed and curling. Surprise was wreaking havoc within him.

_'What the hell?'_ the questioned himself for the umpteenth time. _'Did her hands move so fast I saw no hand seals? I know I didn't see a hand seal! She didn't say anything either, so what sort of jutsu was that?'_

Taking advantage of the blonde's surprise, Yachiru attacked again. Hands behind her, she sprinted towards him, pulling a serpentine column of water from the sea behind her. It writhed, twisting like a mini-tornado on the inside and building in strength as she ran. The blonde's eyes widened and he shoved his hand into his pouch, desperation making its way into his eyes. Yachiru stopped pulling her watery serpent onto the pebble beach. It automatically picked up some of the small stones which began spinning up the centre of the serpent, taking the appearance of a black line through the vortex-like centre of the bluish-clear creature. Turning a bit to the side, Yachiru sent the serpent crashing into the blonde with a push of her hands. The water sprayed in every direction on impact, blocking the nuke-nin's face from Yachiru's view.

Deidara was getting no time to think. He jumped into a nearby tree, but he was far from safe. The serpent was not done. It rapidly spiralled around the trunk of the tree, controlled by the white-haired female's hands and attacked him again, the spinning pebbles in its centre doing a LOT of damage to the blonde nuke-nin. Deidara, desperate, formed several quick seals.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," he muttered, creating three clones of himself. The white haired female chuckled. Drawing her hand back so her thumb was alongside her cheek-bone, she pulled back the serpent, instead moulding the water into a round circle which she spun into a spinning disc with both hands. Her sharp eyes following his clones' movements, she blew a stream of frosty breath onto the circle, her breath visibly white in the warm day air. The spinning watery disc became a spinning ice disc in split seconds. Deidara and his clones were surrounding her, hands in pouches making clay bombs. As the nuke-nin's hand mouths chomped his chakra infused clay, he decided this move would be a bang.

In seconds, hundreds of explosive projectiles were launched at the white-haired girl from seemingly all directions. She didn't seem the slightest bit perturbed. Instead she leapt into the air, and, with a yell that seemed to come from her stomach, she slammed her bare heel onto the top of the spinning ice disc, shattering it and sending sharp icy projectiles in every direction. Even as his mouth was forming the word "Katsu" to detonate his bombs, Deidara knew it would be a gross mistake, for the icy needles had pierced almost all of his clay bombs and were sending them back in the direction they came... very swiftly. As soon as the word left his mouth, Deidara had to perform a substitution jutsu to escape his own attack.

Hundreds of clay bombs detonated, sending his clones away in puffs of smoke and the explosives' shrapnel and the leftover ice needles stung his skin. The log that had taken his place was riddled with thin, sharp slivers of ice. The white-haired female's body was unscathed. She was standing there on the pebbles, her white hair swirling around her face and shoulders in the hot draft of the explosion.

For a moment, Yachiru couldn't find the blonde. She could sense his chakra, she just couldn't see him. A subtle shift in temperature alerted her immediately. So attuned was she to the elements that the shadow that was hovering over her caused the air to cool ever so slightly. She grinned. Apparently the blonde liked to create things that blew up. He would undoubtedly try to drop one on her from his elevated position.

Deidara smirked. He was atop his clay bird, knowing that it had taken a chunk out of his chakra but not caring.

Tossing a relatively large clay bomb above the unsuspecting female's head Deidara yelled, "Katsu!" Even as he was saying the word, Deidara knew something was wrong, but the explosion blocked that _something_ from his sight until it was far too late. The earth was rapidly getting closer to Deidara and his flying clay construct, but Deidara _knew_ that he hadn't lost altitude. Even as his mind was forming the idea, a column of earth crashed into the belly of his bird, breaking through the construct and sending Deidara flying. He was airborne for some 15 seconds, his mind scrambling for a way to break his fall. He was about to make another construct when a shift in the air caught his attention.

Yachiru chuckled. This was getting good. Even though she couldn't remember anything before waking up on this very beach two months prior to the present, she remembered how to _bend_. Slamming the side of her heel into the ground, Yachiru caused a sizeable, round chunk of earth to dislodge. It sprung into the air, and she kicked it with her other foot, sending it flying towards the man who was making his unintended descent from the air. As it soared towards him, Yachiru drew her head back then pushed it forward, sending a stream of flames behind the earthen orb. The heat quickly turned the exterior molten and the glowing earthen projectile rapidly approached Deidara in perfect trajectory, leaving a hazy shimmer in its wake.

Deidara had no time to think before the molten rock slammed into his side with such force that it changed his direction completely. He crashed to the ground, bouncing three times like a rock that was skipped on the surface of a lake. His head crashed into the trunk of a tree and after a moment of intense pain, darkness took over his consciousness.

Yachiru felt no need to kill the blonde. She just hoped that her attacks would be enough to get him to leave her the hell alone! She frowned. This battle might have been physically satisfying, but mentally she was screaming. The stupid blonde had gone and made her think about her past, which was a major blank to her.

_'Why can't I remember anything? I mean sure, I know my name is Kurokka Yachiru, but other than that and the fact that I am different to everyone here, I don't really know anything. How did I even get here? I just can't recall anything at all before two months ago. Is anyone looking for me?' _she thought, tossing her long hair over her shoulder with a fluid flick of her head. _'Okay think, Yachiru. Who is your father... or mother? Do you have any siblings?_ A splitting headache warned Yachiru away from her memories. She clasped a hand to her forehead. _'What is my brain hiding from me? Why can't I remember anything?'_ she pondered, gritting her teeth in frustration. She felt as if there was something important that was locked away from her. Where was she? _Who_ was she? Why was she here? How did she get here? The pain in her head discouraged any further attempts to recall the events prior to two months before now. Yachiru instead thought to when she had come to consciousness.

_ Yachiru's eyes cracked open, but blinding sunlight made her squeeze them shut instinctively. The orangish remained even behind her closed lids. She groaned inwardly, feeling battered and bruised. The sounds of the sea caressed her ears, its gentle sound soothing her. As her mind cleared of the dulling black of unconsciousness, Yachiru became increasingly aware of the hard uneven surface she was laying on. It wasn't just hard, it was uncomfortable with hundreds of smooth round pebbles underneath the soft skin of her back. _

_ The warm waves licked at her toes, the pebbles making a crackling sound as they tumbled over each other in the backwash of the tides. It was a lovely sound. One by one, each of Yachiru's senses became active. Even as she became alarmed, she realized that regardless of how cool the pebbles under her back were, the sun above was scorching hot, baking Yachiru in its harsh glare. There was not much thought in Yachiru's mind as she tentatively cracked open her eyes again, blinking furiously to counter the glare of the midday sun. _

_ She rolled her head to the side, her neck protesting the movement, and was rewarded with the sight of black pebble beach stretching as far to the left as her eye could see, the expansive blue sea to one side, and majestic cliffs to the other. The ocean water was darker blue than that of the sky, which was cloudless at the moment. Birds called to each other from their place in the heavens and a cool breeze ghosted over Yachiru's face for a fleeting moment. _

_ Yachiru lay there on the pebbles, her body aching but her muscles too weak and sore to allow her to move. She absently watched a small brown bird attack a much larger one from above, effectively chasing the large fowl from its territory. One thought screamed in Yachiru's mind. 'Where am I?' She could taste the hint of salt in her mouth from the sea water, leaving her with the impression that she must have washed up here. To her alarm, she couldn't remember where it was that she might have washed up from!_

A shuffle behind her snapped her from her vivid reverie. She spun round to face who could only be the blonde's companion, judging from his attire. Sasori. He slowly pulled his straw hat off his head and discarded it, revealing his well shaped features and dark red hair.

Sasori had observed Deidara's fight with shock that had held him immobile. Who was this girl, and more importantly, _what_ was she? Throughout the fight Sasori had looked over her slim figure, and had seen no evidence of a hitai-ate so he didn't even know which hidden village she was aligned with. She did not carry the clothing of a kunoichi, though by her skill, she could easily be jounin level. And, even though her abilities must be some sort of Kekkei-Genkai, she looked like a commoner, which was what Deidara must obviously have mistaken her for. However, Deidara could hardly be blamed, for not only did Sasori's eyes attest to the apparent fact of her civilian nature, but his senses as well. He could sense no chakra from her. Needless to say, this girl sparked his interest.

Sasori knew he had sharp eyes, but he saw no seals being made as the girl battled Deidara.

"Must be a genjutsu," he muttered under his breath as he hid in the foliage that rimmed the seaside cliffs and pebble beach. He activated a seal to dispel the genjutsu. The sound of the pebbles tumbling over each other in the surf took second place in Sasori's mind as he thought of a plan.

The man in front of Yachiru smiled blandly, his cloak billowing a bit in the breeze. Yachiru frowned as he shuffled beneath the cloak. She attacked. Running towards him, Yachiru failed to notice that something was wrong, and by the time she did, it was too late. A shift in the air drew her attention to something behind her, and she turned her head to see and identical Akatsuki member to the one in front her and her eyes widened in alarm as her struck out. Yachiru's knees hit the cool pebbles below her before her world went black.

Yachiru's eyes shot open as she came to with a start. Her eyes were greeted by the boring grey of a stone ceiling. _'Geez, my heart is racing!'_ she thought. _'Where am I this time?'_ Images of the last moments before she had fallen unconscious flitted through her mind with dizzying speed. Of course. The Akatsuki must have kidnapped her. Where they people from her past? Pain at the base of her neck made her groan. _'Seriously, what is it with this place? This is the second time in two months that I have woken up to somewhere unfamiliar!'_ she thought. She moaned. Her mouth felt parched.

"Oi! She's awake," a low voice said from somewhere to her left. To her right was a stone wall. Yachiru was lying flat on her back on a small cot, her arms and legs shackled to the four posts of the bed. She turned her head to the direction of the voice, and was met with a silver haired man with a young face and an evil grin. "Rise and shine, fucking bitch." The man was wearing the same black cloak as the other two men that had attacked her earlier. Akatsuki. Footsteps tapping on the stone floor alerted Yachiru to the presence of yet another. Her eyes widened in alarm.

Extending from the neck of the other man's Akatsuki coat were two large green venus flytrap-like appendages which opened to reveal his face. One side of the man's face was black with small white bumps running down the centre and no visible orifices, and the other side was white with a regular eye, nose and ear. Both eyes were a vivid tawny yellow colour, and his short messy hair was green.

"**_You look delicious, kunoichi,"_** he said. Without missing a beat, he continued in a different tone. "I apologise." At this, the silver haired man's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"To Jashin, damn Zetsu! Don't fucking apologise to this old bitch!" His purple eyes snapped to Yachiru. "You nearly killed that dickwad Deidara!"

Hidan felt annoyance creeping into his very core as the girl cracked a smile.

"What are you fucking smiling at?" he sneered, inserting cursewords and insults at random. The girl blinked large purplish eyes at him, her long white lashes fanning out over her cheeks.

"The blondie blew up my cave, ano _baka_... and he wouldn't even apologise. Total lack of manners, don't you think?" she snapped, still annoyed at the invasion of her privacy. Her mind flashed back to two months prior when she had created her home in the rocks.

_Yachiru looked up at the sky for the umpteenth time. How was it that the elements could change in seemingly the blink of an eye? She groaned in annoyance. Truth be told, Yachiru had felt the warning of an imminent change of weather inwardly, but even though she thought she might be the type to trust her instincts, the fact that she couldn't seem to remember anything prior to waking up earlier filled her with doubt and she disregarded her feelings and instead tried to find out details about her location. So far she had found that she was on a coast to the south, judging by the direction the sun was moving in as time went by. The beach was made of pebbles, which must have come from the rocky cliffs and the river that fed into the ocean, and was rimmed by high dark cliffs that unevenly rimmed the coastline. Parts of the cliff dipped lower, and were covered with patches of grass and plants, and the top of the cliff had a few grassy knolls that disappeared into dense forest. Yachiru's eyes narrowed as a rumble from the depths of the dense black clouds that had blotted out the sun sounded. _

_ Her eyes darting to her current surroundings, Yachiru forced herself to think of a place where she could take shelter. Where she was currently standing was a grassy slope that went up between two high rounded mounds of rock that broke the jagged line of cliffs. None of the retreated sections of the cliff line was deep enough for her to take shelter in, but the larger of the two mounds of rock kept grabbing her attention. She looked to the sea, which was no longer a charming blue, and was alarmed by how far up the pebbled beach it had come, its waves getting closer and closer to the cliff faces. _

_ When the first cold droplets of rain assailed Yachiru from above, she knew she had to act fast. She listened to instinct, having no other choice at the moment, and slammed her palm into the face of the rocky mound. To her somewhat lacking surprise – it was almost as if she had half expected this reaction – the rock receded easily under her palm, leaving a large circular hole in the rock as the area under her palm retreated into the mound. There was the harsh earthen sound of rock moving against rock as she pushed it again, making the depth of the recess deeper. Getting more confident with the reaction, Yachiru began pushing at the rock with both bands until a small cave was formed into the rock mound. It took approximately four minutes for a satisfactorily sized cave was created in the mound. Small clumps of dirt and rock tumbled from the roof of the cave, and Yachiru impatiently brushed them off her hair and shoulders, perusing the cave with wonder and satisfaction. Apparently there was more to her than she remembered. 'It seems as if I will have to meet myself all over again,' Yachiru thought, nibbling at the inside of her lip. _

_ A draft of warm wind blew water inside the cave, and Yachiru realized with a start that the rain had already become torrential outside. Stiff wind blew the rain further into the cave, allowing the lovely scent of rain on fresh earth to permeate the cave. Yachiru took an appreciative breath of the welcome scent then decided that her appreciation would have to be cut short since she would rather her cave remain dry. _

_ Yachiru slammed her heel into the ground, listening to instinct again, and was rewarded by the sound of rock grinding against rock as a hunk of earth slid up from the floor at the cave entrance. There was a thud as the earth met the roof of the cave's entrance, effectively blocking the rain from entering and plunging the cave in darkness simultaneously. Yachiru panicked for a moment at the lack of light, then realized with a start that even though she couldn't see anything with her eyes, she was very well aware of her surroundings _with her feet!_ She knew where everything was! From their miniscule movements, she could sense the trail of ants marching in a line right in front her bare feet. She could sense the bugs crawling over the cave walls and floor, and the worm squirming on the ground in the far corner of the cave. _

_ Her heart thudded with the realization that this heightened sense of awareness seemed as natural to her as breathing. Who the hell was she?_

"... you even listening to me ya fucking bitch?" Yachiru was snapped back to the present by the foul mouthed Akatsuki. He was pissed off. He should join the club. Yachiru ground her teeth in annoyance of his loud rudeness. Her eyes narrowed as he jabbed a hard finger into her collarbone. "I said who are you?" Yachiru's eyebrows twitched. For some reason, she didn't feel afraid of the silver haired man.

"Che... what's it to you?" she retorted, setting her jaw in the universal sign of sheer obstinacy. "In any case, it's common courtesy to introduce yourself first before asking someone's name... so... who the hell are _you_?" Yachiru demanded, for some reason enjoying baiting the man.

**_"Fiesty. Mmm. I bet she will taste spicy, Hidan,"_**the plant-man said from behind the foul mouthed one, his tawny eyes glittering in interest. Now this one stirred a bit of uneasiness in Yachiru. The plant-man's statement completely nullified Hidan's next words.

"I don't have to fucking tell you my name, you ugly whore! I'm Akatsuki; I ask the questions!" Yachiru smirked at his outburst.

"I already know your name now, _Hidan_, and _you_ still don't know _mine_. For an all powerful Akatsuki, you're not getting anywhere, are you?" she taunted. Hidan's eyes widened, narrowed, and then twitched uncontrollably. A vein bulged in his forehead and he spun to face the plant-man.

"Dammit, Zetsu!" Hidan yelled angrily. "I should sacrifice you both to Jashin!" An earthen rumble from the direction of the wall had him spinning his head back round. His eyes widened in surprise before a cuboid shaft of rock surged from the room wall, slamming him squarely in the face.

**A/N:- Ehh... I might as well tell you that the foreign influence is the bending from Avatar: TLAB, but that's all that came over, dattebayo! Chotto matte! The romance will come soon, I promise! Do you think there should be some AkaYachi? Please oh please review! Reviews make my fingers type faster! **


	3. Yachiru and the Jashinist

***Chapter 3: Yachiru and the Jashinist***

**Ahh chapter 3! Shout out to MissMeep, NoTengoUnNombre and Psuedobeast for reviewing, and also the unnamed guests (^_^). So this chapter will mainly be lighthearted and for those Hidan fans... Let's go!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! (T_T) !**

_Flashback is written in italics._

_'Thoughts in italics and enclosed in quotes'_

Normal writing is in normal text.

"Dialogue is in normal text enclosed in open and closed quotations."

**_'Black Zetsu and Kyuubi speak in bold italics enclosed in quotations.'_**

**Previously on Left to the Elements:**

"I already know your name now, _Hidan_, and _you_ still don't know _mine_. For an all powerful Akatsuki, you're not getting anywhere, are you?" she taunted. Hidan's eyes widened, narrowed, and then twitched uncontrollably. A vein bulged in his forehead and he spun to face the plant-man.

"Dammit, Zetsu!" Hidan yelled angrily. "I should sacrifice you both to Jashin!" An earthen rumble from the direction of the wall had him spinning his head back round. His eyes widened in surprise before a cuboid shaft of rock surged from the room wall, slamming him squarely in the face.

**oooOooo**

Yachiru grinned to herself. Her instinct rocked! Who knew slamming her fist into the wall would have such an amusing effect? The shaft of rock retreated into the wall, rumbling as it did so. Hidan was on his back, groaning in... wait, _what?_ Was he groaning in delight? Yachiru sweat-dropped. The one named Zetsu stood over the masochist on the ground.

"You really enjoyed that, didn't you, Hidan?" he asked in the less disturbing of his two voices. Hidan moaned again, his fingertips twitching a bit. A slow grin slid onto his face.

"Fuck yeah. Are you kidding me?" He slowly got to his feet, and the grin disappeared. "I'm gonna make you regret that you nasty..." he started, and his next words were cut off as the door opened, hitting him squarely in the back of the head. There was silence, and then he spun round, pissed off. "Dammit Tobi! What's your problem? I have no issue sacrificing you to the great God Jashin!" he yelled, grabbing the newcomer by the throat. A childishly frightened voice sounded from the direction of the door.

"Itae! Please don't hurt Tobi, Hidan! Tobi didn't mean it! Tobi is sorry!" There were sounds of a scuffle then the door slammed and there were the sounds of running feet as the newcomer fled down the hall. Hidan turned back around, placed his hands on his hips and blew a breath out of his mouth.

"Damn Tobi," he muttered. There was a moment of silence as both Zetsu and Yachiru were staring at Hidan expectantly. He looked up to find both sets of eyes on him. "Da fuck? What the hell are you staring at me for?" The question was riddled with curse-words enough to make Yachiru cringe a little. What were these people? The door opened again, slamming Hidan in the back. He spun around again and began spewing curses at a hulking figure named Kakuzu. In a motion so swift Yachiru barely saw it, Kakuzu attacked, and Hidan's silver-haired head was rolling on the floor. Yachiru's eyes widened in shock as Hidan's severed head continued talking. "Kakuzu, was that really necessary?" it asked, gurgling a little as blood filled its mouth.

"Shut up, Hidan," the tall, muscular man replied in annoyance. "You talk too much." The man, Kakuzu, was wearing the Akatsuki cloak with a grey bodysuit underneath that covered his head, and a black band over his forehead with a slashed hitai-ate. A mask covered his mouth. The newcomer had red eyeballs with bright green pupils, and towered over Hidan and Zetsu. Zetsu calmly walked over to Hidan's head and picked it up. Blood was draining from the neck. Hidan's head looked to Yachiru's shocked face and smirked.

"Yeah, that's right, bitch. I can't fucking die," he said. Yachiru blinked at him in shock, and then couldn't resist taunting him to hide said shock.

"I'll find a way," she said, one white eyebrow raised. Hidan's eyebrow twitched.

"Kakuzu! Put my head back on! This bitch is gonna be sacrificed to Jashin _today!_" Kakuzu ignored the silver-haired Akatsuki's demands and stalked across the room to peer at Yachiru, tossing coins in his hand with each step.

"Fuck Jashin," he flung at Hidan's head. "Your religion is stupid." He stopped at the edge of Yachiru's bed. "Tell me, _little one_," he said in a low tone, bending over so his face was closer to hers. "How much are you worth in ..." He allowed his voice to trail off as he perused the shiny coins in his hand. Yachiru grit her teeth in anger at what she thought he was insinuating. Behind Kakuzu, Zetsu was calling his name and trying to get his attention.

"Ano... Kakuzu...**_don't go so close to the_**... wall," Zetsu was trying to say over Hidan's yells and curses and Kakuzu's blatant choice to ignore them. Yachiru smiled. Even if he killed her, this was far too good an opportunity to pass up. She slammed her fist into the wall, sending the surging cuboid shaft of rock slamming into Kakuzu's face with such force that it pushed him several meters away from where he once stood. Zetsu eyed him curiously. "I told you **_not to get so close to the wall_**," he said, a deadpan expression on his face. The venus-flytraps closed around his face at the sharp look Kakuzu shot his way.

_'That's it, fight among yourselves now,'_ Yachiru thought as she tried to figure out a way to escape. _'These shackles are strong, but if I can somehow get them to break from the bed-posts...'_ Yachiru waited a moment, trying to ignore how her sweat made her white hair strands cling to her forehead, and willed her instinct to chip in. _'That's it! Ice or fire!' _she thought. Now, she only had to get them to take their focus off her. She looked around the room trying to figure out what she could use to distract them.

The floor of the room was a large square of about ten metres per side. Her bed was against the right-most wall, and the door to enter the room was set in the left wall. The walls of the room went up about four meters high and each wall had a torch set into the centre of it. _'If those lights were to go out...'_ Yachiru thought, her brain scrambling to deduce exactly what she might be capable of. The annoying thing about not having any memory of her past was that she had to learn herself all over again. What she did know, from experimenting in the past two months, was that she could control to some extent the elements. That meant she could manipulate earth, as she had done by using the force of contact on the walls, and she could manipulate water, as she had done while fighting Deidara even though unlike with earth, she did not have to actually touch the water. She also knew she could spit fire, she just didn't know how to regulate it yet, and she also knew she could breathe frost. Her mind took her back a couple weeks.

_Yachiru lay under the tree, watching in inexpressible fascination as the leaves floated slowly to the ground. Her eyes followed them on their twirling descent to the ground where they moved back and forward slowly before gently resting on the earth. The movements were so fluid, Yachiru hopped to her feet with the intent to try to copy the fluid movements, taking a quick glance around her to watch for the approach of anyone else. She felt heat rush to her face for a moment, before, satisfied that she was alone, she began to take small, light steps darting from side to side. A small breeze was rustling through the trees at that moment, the gentle sound calming her. Yachiru closed her eyes, moving with the wind as it blew from the trees to the grassy area she was on, over the cliffs and along the coast below. Feeling an intense but peaceful pressure in her chest that built as she moved, Yachiru's dance came to a stop with one knee bent and the other at an angle to the side, her torso pushed forward and her arms outstretched with the middle and index fingers extended and the other fingers bent. _

_ Yachiru's eyes widened as a burst of air streamed from her palms, guided by her extended fingers, with such force that the air itself was visible. The wind gusted from her palms and towards the trees, blowing off a multitude of leaves in the process. Standing, Yachiru held her palms to her eyes in wonder. A short second after, Yachiru felt that same feeling she had felt when she had constructed her home in the rock. She was not as surprised as she might have been. These abilities must then be something she had practiced before she lost her memories. A grin spread through Yachiru; it was time to experiment!_

_ Hours later, Yachiru was lying on her back on the grass near the edge of the cliffs, exhausted from her experimental efforts. Sweat was draining off her brow, the rivulets getting into her eyes. They were so annoying! She put her hand above her head with the intention of wiping the sweat off, when the liquid simply rose off her forehead and hung suspended in a watery ball in the air. Yachiru smiled to herself, getting to her feet and eyeing the ocean below the cliffs with a new interest. _

Yachiru smiled inwardly in memory of that day, rather, that week. She had spent day after day experimenting with her abilities, following her instinct. She learned that manipulating the air came easier the more relaxed and peaceful she was, fire manipulation was more powerful when she was not breathing erratically, earth manipulation was best when her body was directly attached to the ground, and water manipulation was more powerful the calmer she was. Earth manipulation and air manipulation depended upon her physical ability and inner peace respectively, fire manipulation was best during the day, and water manipulation was best at night. The full moon was the most powerful moment in water manipulation.

Zetsu's flytrap had opened again, and he was looking at Hidan and Kakuzu with an unreadable expression on his face. Kakuzu was not even nearly as pleased as Hidan had been by Yachiru's attack. Uh oh. As Kakuzu stormed back towards the bed, Yachiru had to act fast. She inhaled, feeling the pressure of the air in her lungs build, then blew a concentrated stream of air towards the torches on the wall. Before Kakuzu had reached halfway across the room, it was plunged in darkness. Realizing that she wouldn't be able to 'see' since her feet weren't grounded, Yachiru quickly sent a stream of frigid breath to the shackles that bound her wrists. In seconds they were cold and brittle, and, clenching her fists, Yachiru yanked forcefully on them to free her arms. The same treatment was given to the shackles binding her ankles, and she was free. All she had to do now was escape the Akatsuki.

Hidan heard the sounds of straining metal and the distinct sound when the white-haired prisoner broke free. Not good.

"Kakuzu! Put my damn head back on!" he screamed. By Jashin, he wanted in on this fight! Jashin had been days without a sacrifice and the loyal devotee that he was, he _needed_ to appease his god. He couldn't control his body with his head severed. "Kakuzu!"

"I can't see, damn it, Hidan," Kakuzu snarled.

The moment Yachiru's bare feet hit the ground, she knew where everything was. In movements reminiscent of her Leaf Dance, she slipped past Kakuzu, dodged Zetsu and Hidan's head, side-stepped Hidan's crumpled body and planted a solid kick on the room door, splintering the centre and sending the door flying into the hall. Because of the sudden light, Yachiru knew she had to move fast. She took off down the hallway, knowing that the Akatsuki was going to be hot on her heels.

Zetsu started to sink into the wall, with Hidan's head still in his hands.

"Dammit, Zetsu! Leave my fucking head behind will you, you dumb plant! Kakuzu needs to sew my head back on!" Zetsu, obviously annoyed at Hidan's foul mouth, unceremoniously dropped the head onto the ground where it bounced and rolled. Then he shrunk into the wall in pursuit of the runaway captive. Kakuzu stared at Hidan's head on the ground, seriously debating leaving his partner's head there, but knew he would never hear the end of it so he quickly sewed Hidan's head back to his neck.

Hidan flexed his arms, glad to be back in control of his body, and took off down the hallway in the direction the white-haired woman had gone. He grinned as he ran. The bitch sure knew how to make things interesting. He just hoped Itachi would be a while coming back. The silent Uchiha would not be interested in playing with the female as _he_ would and he would be damned if he let the Uchiha steal his sacrifice.

Yachiru's steps slowed as she 'saw' the approach of another. He was coming towards her from the direction she was running with slow, easy steps that betrayed confidence. Behind her, she could 'see' the other two – Hidan and Kakuzu – running towards her. Indecision slowed her to a standstill. A shift beside her startled her, and she watched as two venus-flytraps emerged from the wall. Hands reached out and grasped her, holding her still. Yachiru clenched her jaw in annoyance. _'Shit,'_ she thought.

Itachi stared at the sight before him. A bare-footed, white-haired woman dressed in rags was standing in the hallway, held close by Zetsu who was halfway out of the wall. Behind her, Kakuzu and Hidan were running towards the scene, odd glints in both their eyes. What was going on?

"Hn," was all Itachi said. It was all he needed to say.

"Dumb old bitch nearly killed Deidara," Hidan said in explanation as he slowed to a stop. "She has some weird Kekkei-Genkai that we haven't figured out yet."

"Hn," Itachi replied. The woman, who, at a closer look turned out to be more of a _girl_, was standing in baleful silence. For the first in a long time, Itachi's eyes widened in shock as the girl stomped her foot, seemingly in a tantrum, and in response, a wall shot up between herself and Hidan. She folded her arms and glared at Itachi before repeating the motion and sending a shaft of earth up from the ground, knocking Zetsu directly in the chin and causing him to loosen his hold on her. She broke free of his grip and squared off with Itachi, seemingly sizing him up. Itachi sighed in frustration. This was not the best place to have a fight, and his chakra was low from the last mission.

What was weird was that he sensed absolutely no chakra from this girl. This needed to be investigated further, so it would be best if he didn't kill her. Not knowing what she was capable of made it harder to fight her, and the complication was that he saw no evidence of hand seals. He activated his Sharingan.

Yachiru watched as the newcomer's irises turned red with three tadpole shaped markings in each iris. What was this? Focusing on his eyes was the wrong move. She was immediately transported to a barren field and angry birds attacked her from the skies. She put up her hands to ward off their sharp beaks.

Itachi watched as her eyes dulled under the effect of his genjutsu. She was raising her arms to defend herself. He easily knocked her out and tossed her over his shoulder. Itachi blinked at the wall that now blocked off the hallway. He could hear Hidan's muffled voice from the other side of the earthen wall.

"Stand back!" Itachi took several steps backwards. After a couple seconds, there was an explosion that shook the passageway and the wall collapsed in a heap of rubble.

"Never thought I'd ever have to use fucking explosive tags," Hidan muttered with derision in his tone.

"Hn." Itachi continued down the hallway with the girl over his shoulder. Hidan followed him.

"Where are you going with my sacrifice?" He yelled, interspersing expletives wherever they would fit. Itachi ignored him, continuing at his normal slow pace until he got to the Akatsuki meeting room. He dropped the girl on the couch and signalled for a meeting with Pein using his ring. Itachi waited for Pein's holographic image to appear, growing increasingly annoyed with Hidan's ramblings.

"Itachi, you bastard!" Hidan was saying. "I bet you're holding the girl so you can nasty bang her when I'm gone! Damn you for holding your stupid Sharingan over me as if I don't already know what it can do!" This was in response to Itachi glaring at him. "She won't be attracted to you anyway, baka Uchiha. With your wrinkled face and ugly eyes there's no way..." His voice trailed off as Pein's holographic image appeared in the room. Hidan immediately switched targets. It wasn't as if he was normally talkative, he just really wanted to play with this girl! "Pein! Tell Itachi to hand the girl over to me!"

Pein's pierced brow rose and he said, "Is this the reason behind the meeting Itachi? You and Hidan fighting over a woman?"

"Hn," Itachi replied, meaning 'Hell no, it's way more important than that.'

"I see, well what did you summon me here for?" Itachi shot a glance to the unconscious girl.

"She needs looking into."

"She nearly fucking killed Deidara! Not that the twat is that hard to take out, but still," Hidan interrupted, fingering his chain. "It's absolute blasphemy unto the great god Jashin, her utter disregard for the intricacies of pain." He began to mutter a prayer unto Jashin. Pein turned his attention back to Itachi who had tightened a grip on his fleeting patience.

"Her skills can be utilized by us. She has no chakra signature at all but uses what I assume is a Kekkei-Genkai to fight. Either she has extreme chakra control or..." Itachi's voice trailed off as he looked back to the girl. Pein's eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Fine, see what you can find out, and then report to me. Use any means possible." Pein's image disappeared, leaving Itachi with Hidan.

"Don't kill her Hidan. When she wakes, feed her and take her to spar. Since you want to play so badly, _you_ get to keep her, and _you_ get to face Pein if and when you mess up," Itachi bit out, and stalked from the room. He didn't miss the tyrannical glitter in Hidan's eyes.

Hours later, Yachiru awakened to find herself in a room with no shackles or bindings. She sat up on the pallet and scratched her head.

"Awake again, I see," came a now familiar voice. Hidan. Yachiru ground her teeth together in annoyance.

"Let me go, Hidan. I only defended myself against Deidara, so leave me be." Hidan smirked at her command.

"Let you go back to where? Your little cave by the beach? How boring. How _blasphemous!_ Why would you want to go back there, when you could stay here with us and have _fun_?" His eyes narrowed as he advanced, coming closer to her. Her eyes narrowed and she got to her knees, edging away from him as he came closer. Seeing that she was somewhat interested, Hidan continued. "We can spar, and check out all the cool things you can do. Maybe you will even convert to Jashinism! What d'yu think, Whitey? Sound like fun? Let's chit chat about it over some grub, ne?" Yachiru eyed him suspiciously. What was he playing at?

"Why do you want me to stay?" she asked, peering at him with blatant distrust.

"Well, Whitey, so that if you are awesome, you can serve a purpose instead of rotting away in a cave, and if you suck, you will be a lovely sacrifice to Jashin." His eyes glittered maniacally as he replied. He leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "Plus, Zetsu has taken a liking to you, so if you leave, I can't promise that he won't come and find a way to eat you. He does that, you know, cuz he's a fricking cannibal." Yachiru felt her eyebrows knit at the implications.

"And if I stay here?"

"Whitey, if you stay here, you'll have food, eventually get to go outside, do missions, get money, kill stuff, be a badass Akatsuki girl..." Hidan eyed her from head to toe. "Clean and in kunoichi clothes..." he muttered, shivering in masculine appreciation as he leered at her. Yachiru punched him in his gut. He groaned and smiled through the pain. "You already know what I like. Do it again," he commanded. Yachiru folded her arms and stared him down.

"I'll only hit you if you don't try to kill you." Hidan's face fell.

"Please, pretty fucking please?" Yachiru's stance alone clearly screamed the negative. "Just once more?" he begged after a second, grinning at her, his chain flashing from where it lay on his chest which was bare under his Akatsuki cloak. Yachiru caved, smiling a bit inwardly because Hidan was a bit funny.

"Fine," she bit out, sending a solid punch to his solar plexus. He bent over, gasping and wheezing.

"_Jashin, woman!"_ Yachiru snickered. _'I think I like this guy,'_ she thought, following him as he staggered out of the room.

The next day had the Jashinist poking Yachiru in the chest. She still hadn't told any of them her name, so at the moment, Hidan was calling her 'Whitey', 'White-bitch', among other names. She cracked open one eye to see the Hidan peering into her face. Forgetting he was a masochist, she gave him a sturdy punch to the face for invading her privacy, and stepped over the delighted lump of Jashinist who was on the floor covering his bloody nose.

"Direct me to the showers, _Hidan,_" she said, grinning at him.

"You're gonna have to stay dirty until you tell me your name, bitch," Hidan shot back.

"You're gonna stick me with some stupid nickname anyway, Jashin, so why do you need to know my name?" There was a moment of complete silence in the room, and Hidan's pleasure was palpable.

"You just called me Jashin," he said softly, his eyes twinkling. "You equated me to my most high god," he continued, deeply affected by her slip of the tongue.

"E-eto, it was a mistake..." she muttered, sweat-dropping. Hidan's head jerked and he met her eyes.

"Exactly my point! I'm not smart, but if you said it intentionally it would most likely have been in jest, would it not?" Yachiru had to admit she saw his point. _'I guess it would be a little heartless to let him know I have no idea who or what Jashin is supposed to be other than someone he worships, right?' _Yachiru thought. Instead she shrugged.

"It's Yachiru, buy the way," she said over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.

"Third door on the left," Hidan answered. "Stuff to cover your butt with is in the closet in the room!"

**oooOooo**

Deidara's eyes strained to open. He was aching everywhere! Where was he? His eyes moved in their sockets as he looked about the room. A white curtain was hanging from a metal pole next to his bed, and he was covered in a white sheet. He was in the medical ward at the Akatsuki base. That meant Sasori must have defeated the white-haired female. Deidara slowly sat up, grimacing at the pain in his chest, stomach and side. Slowly he stood, swaying a bit, and holding onto the bed to steady himself. His hair still smelt singed. Deidara opened the mecial ward door and was dizzied by a flash of white hair as someone dashed past the door. Feminine laughter sounded as Hidan followed right behind, almost bowling Deidara over. What was going on?

Deidara almost fell on his face but was stopped by a strong arm. He looked up and was met with Itachi's deadpan black gaze. Itachi simply blinked at him and helped him to his feet.

"Hn."

"Who is that, and what is she doing here, un?" Deidara managed to gasp.

"Kurokka Yachiru. She's a person of interest," Itachi replied. Deidara scowled. Trust Itachi to use only the most cryptic of statements. Person of interest? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Knowing it would be exhausting to try and get it out of Itachi, Deidara decided he would find out on his own. Then, maybe he could get an opportunity to repay her for the pain she had caused him. She would make for a great piece of art!

Itachi stood close to the open land that surrounded the Akatsuki base, overseeing the match between Hidan and Yachiru. Pein had given special permission for the sparring to take place outside, considering Yachiru was a person of interest. When Itachi had questioned her earlier, she had responded to all questions about her alliances with 'I don't remember,' and he hadn't been able to sense any traces of her bluffing or lying. Itachi absently wondered what his partner Kisame would think of the white-haired woman.

"Give me your best shot, Yachi-chan. I promise I won't kill you," Hidan was saying.

"Not that you could," Yachiru replied, smirking. Without warning, Hidan swung his blade at her. The scythe swerved towards her, and Itachi's eyebrow rose at the thought that she would be dead already, when the girl simply held both hands out with palms facing each other, flipped her wrists so that the palms were facing up and curled her fingers. An earthen wall shot up from the ground, catching the Jashinist's blade. At the same time, she flitted around the earthen wall, ran toward Hidan who was still holding the cable that was connected to his three bladed scythe. As she ran, Yachiru held out a palm, raising a hulk of earth from the ground, and sent it flying towards Hidan with a punch-like motion.

Hidan slipped out of the way just in time, but was met head on with a burst of flame that shot from her palms as she continued the punch-like motions. Itachi observed with his Sharingan. He saw the style of her movements change rapidly, but was not so captivated by the beauty of her movements that he forgot to watch for seals. There were none. Instead, she moved with a lithe grace at the start with quick, easy, graceful movements, before slipping into a more grounded, purposeful style, followed by her current harsh but strong movements. Each punch and kick sent a burst of flame shooting from the respective limb. Swiping kicks sent arcs of flame shooting at a surprised Hidan. He stepped out of the way, but that was expected, and Yachiru's style switched into her grounded mode. A swift punch sent a ridge of earth shooting up under Hidan's feet, throwing him off balance, and a heel slammed into the earth sent a fissure directly into where Hidan was currently stepping.

Hidan's eyes widened as Yachiru's glowing fist stopped scant millimetres from his face. A burst of flame now would not be pretty! He had been yanking on his scythe but the damn wall had it locked up tight. Yachiru relaxed her pose and smiled.

"How was that for our first spar? I took it easy on you this time," she smirked. Hidan glowered.

"I was taking it easy on you as well!" He sent a string of curses at her, but she walked off and left him, grinning all the way.

Itachi's eyes narrowed as he watched her. What was this woman? How could she manipulate the elements without using any seals? If this was a Kekkei-Genkai, it would be in very high demand should it be found out. He needed to report to Pein. This woman was not one they wanted to have to oppose any time soon. As she approached the base, Itachi perused her features for the first time.

Standing at around five feet four inches, Kurokka Yachiru was short. She was, however, slim with well toned muscles and a flat stomach. Her waist was small, flaring out into her hips and rounded derriere and she had strong legs and well shaped calves. She seemed to always walk around without shoes. Her face was almond shaped, and she had full pouty lips and a straight nose that turned up ever so slightly at the tip. Rounded cheeks were on either side of her nose, and underneath large, expressive eyes that had purplish irises. Her eyes were framed by long white lashes which were thick and lush, and she tended to blink slowly. It was quite endearing. Wait, _endearing?_ Itachi pushed the thought from his mind, instead inspecting how her hair streamed behind her as she walked. Her hair.

Stopping at the small of her back, Yachiru's hair was pure white, long silky-looking straight strands that seemed to dance once there was the presence of wind. It was cut in shorter bangs which framed her face, and currently was clinging to her forehead because of her perspiration.

Yes, Kurokka Yachiru was someone to watch out for, alright, and Itachi wasn't only thinking of her abilities. He was about to turn and head back to the base as well, when he heard a distinct voice.

"Who are you?" Kisame had arrived.

**A/N: AAaaaaahhh! I can't squash anything else in this chapter! I am reserving more stuffs for the next one! As you can see, there is the beginning of what seems to be some ItaYachi and some HidaYachi... I just could not resist! Don't judge me... hihihihi. As usual, review please oh please! Reviews make me type faster! **


	4. Akatsuki Playground

***Chapter 4: Akatsuki Playground***

**As you can imagine from the title, this is expected to be another lighthearted chapter. For Hidan and Kisame lovers, today is your lucky day. Konan will not be in this story so don't look for her, and don't ask me where she is *pout*. I noticed that some people did not understand Yachiru's abilities, and let me just say that they are from Avatar: The Last Airbender, so you can check out elemental bending. I will still try to explain it a bit in this chapter for those that don't watch Avatar:TLA, but I am not gonna go into any long winded explanation. I didn't make this story a Naruto/Avatar:TLA crossover because none of the Avatar:TLA characters will be in this story. Shout out to Psuedobeast, MissMeep – thank you for the reviews! Without further ado…..**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! (T_T) !**

_Flashback is written in italics._

_'Thoughts in italics and enclosed in quotes'_

Normal writing is in normal text.

"Dialogue is in normal text enclosed in open and closed quotations."

**_'Black Zetsu and Kyuubi speak in bold italics enclosed in quotations.'_**

**Previously on Left to the Elements:**

Stopping at the small of her back, Yachiru's hair was pure white, long silky-looking straight strands that seemed to dance once there was the presence of wind. It was cut in shorter bangs which framed her face, and currently was clinging to her forehead because of her perspiration.

Yes, Kurokka Yachiru was someone to watch out for, alright, and Itachi wasn't only thinking of her abilities. He was about to turn and head back to the base as well, when he heard a distinct voice.

"Who are you?" Kisame had arrived.

**oooOooo**

Yachiru's eyes widened only slightly at the latest member. Who was this? Standing at about the same height as Kakuzu, this man was powerfully muscled – it was obvious even though he was wearing his Akatsuki cloak – and had a bluish tint to his skin. His colour was not the only surprising thing about him, for he had what looked to be gills on his cheeks and small round eyes. _'Sh-sh-shark desu!'_ was all Yachiru could think when he grinned and revealed sharp, jagged teeth. His bluish-grey hair, styled like a shark fin only added to his shark-like appearance. With a start, Yachiru realized the shark-man was laughing. Wait, had she said what she thought _ALOUD?_ The shark-man dragged a large cloth bound item, with what looked to be a sword hilt at the end, from his back and pointed it at her.

"She's funny," he chuckled in a husky tone, directing his comment at Hidan.

"She just beat Hidan-senpai!" Tobi chimed in from the now somewhat mutilated field. Hidan growled.

"Tobi-teme! Shut your fucking orange hole, ano baka!" He began ranting and raving with his usual barrage of expletives, and Tobi apologized profusely and cowered. Yachiru sweat-dropped.

"So, who are you?" Kisame repeated.

"Kurokka Yachiru. Who are you?" Kisame grinned again at her direct reply. He looked her over. She had no chakra, but she had just beat Hidan in a spar. What was this girl, or what was going on with Hidan? "If you don't reply, I'm gonna call you 'sharky'," the girl continued, the smile on her face signaling that she wasn't trying to be insulting.

"I'm Hoshigaki Kisame." He shoved his wrapped weapon in her face. "And this is Samehada." Yachiru smiled.

**oooOooo**

Itachi stared at the remaining water in his cup. He frowned at the paltry amount.

"Hn," he grunted, meaning 'Hey, who the hell drank out some of my water?'. Assuming for a moment that maybe he had unconsciously been sipping his water while thinking, Itachi put the thought that his water was less than he had left it out of his mind. Only a few of the Akatsuki members were currently at the base – Pein, Zestu, Tobi and Deidara were out on missions, and Kakuzu had gone to collect money from a contact. That left Itachi, Kisame, Hidan and Yachiru at the base. The four were in the dining area eating lunch. Itachi cut into his beef silently, willing himself not to look up and openly peruse Yachiru's interaction with the other two Akatsuki. Why the girl interested him so was… well it would most likely be due to the fact that she was _different_, right?

Itachi reached for his glass again and frowned. There was considerably _less_ water in the cup. Something was not right. He looked up at the others, but they were not even looking his way. Kisame was telling Yachiru fail-tales of Hidan, much to Hidan's displeasure. Yachiru's eyes flicked to Itachi for a moment, then darted back to Kisame. Something was not right. Itachi turned his gaze to Hidan who was spewing insults at Kisame.

"Ano baka, Kisame! What did they used to do in Hidden Mist? Fry your siblings for supper? Little fishy children darting about like tadpoles! You fishy fuck! Your blue skin makes you look like you've been dead a while…" He continued, but Itachi wasn't listening. He sent a glance instead to his cup, and his eyebrows knit together. He hadn't had a drink of water since the last time he looked, but his cup was already empty! Was he _that_ preoccupied? He stood up and reached for his cup, turning his back on the dining Akatsuki and Yachiru.

"Hn," he said, meaning 'I'm going for more water', and stalked off to the kitchen. He had barely stepped out of the room when Hidan erupted in laughter. Itachi stopped out of sight behind the door and cloaked his chakra.

"Haha!" Hidan whooped in his signature maniacal laughter. "I can't fucking hold it anymore! Yachi–chan that was fucking hilarious! Did you see the look on his wrinkly face? He'll never figure it out, the dumb fuck! Not even with that _baka_ Sharingan!" For once, someone was laughing along with Hidan. Two someones. Itachi frowned in disapproval of his partner's frivolous indulgence in whatever prank was being played. Hidan was wrong. He _would_ figure it out, even if he had to dig it out of one of them.

Yachiru grinned at the Jashinist. When she had told him about what she had observed of her abilities, Hidan had been interested to know what they could get up to.

_"Well, I can manipulate water with my arms or legs," Yachiru said, demonstrating by lifting dirty water out of a cup without actually touching it with her fingers. _

_"Fucking epic," Hidan breathed, leaning closer to observe as the water rose out of the cup in a brown, watery blob. His eyes widened as the blob took on the neater roundness of a ball. _

_"I can also manipulate earth, which I sometimes use to clean water, like this," Yachiru continued, raising her other hand with fingers outstretched. When she pulled it back, the dirt particles followed her fingers, moving completely out of the ball of water. Hidan followed the path of the dirt with his eyes, which widened as he observed. Yachiru fisted her hand and the dirt compacted into a round brown ball. Turning back to the water, Hidan saw that the water was now crystal clear. _

_"That's geokinetic and hyrdrokinetic ability," another voice inserted. Both Yachiru's and Hidan's head swung round to face the newcomer. Kisame took a seat by the table the other two were at. Allowing the earthen ball to fall to the table, Yachiru continued. She placed one hand, palm up, underneath the now clear glob of water. A small flame erupted from her palm. This would be firebending, or pyrokinetic abilities. She looked hard at the flame, and it got bigger. Kisame and Hidan leaned closer and watched as bubbles started spinning in the ball of water as the water heated and boiled. Yachiru killed the flame then leaned forward and blew a stream of cold breath on the boiling blob. It froze in a matter of seconds to a hard, clear ball of ice. _

_"I purified the already clean water by boiling it, that's why it froze clear. If I had left it, it would have had lots of bubbles inside and would have been more bluish-white," Yachiru said in explanation. _

_"That's freaking cool," Kisame said, not afraid to show his amazement. "How do you do all of that without hand-seals?" _

_At the look on her face as he asked the question, Kisame almost wished he could take it back. Almost. Her large eyes blinked even slower than normal and her face got pensive. _

_"I can't remember," she said in a tone so low it came out a whisper. "I think I must always have been able to do this, and I must have trained on it before, but I can't remember anything earlier than two and a half months back. I don't even know all I am capable of. I can't remember if I know anything about hand-seals. What are they?" Kisame frowned a bit, then decided to show her. Using two hands, he made the seals ram-serpent-tiger._

_"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Kisame said. Yachiru's eyes widened as she took in the three Kisames standing before her. She reached out to touch them, jerking her hand back in astonishment when she realized that they weren't just illusions. "We all have chakra," Kisame went on to say, "and hand seals affect what happens when you use said chakra. Each person has different chakra, and different amounts of chakra. The Akatsuki each have more chakra than the general person, so we can do more jutsus than a lot of other people." Yachiru's eyes had widened, even as she nodded her understanding. Kisame and Hidan took turns showing her different jutsus and seals, and told her more about chakra and shinobi in general. After that moment, they spent their days at the base teaching her about jutsus and weaponry, and helping her figure out exactly what she was capable of. In the past month she had grown much closer to the two Akatsuki, who trained with her when they were present and training by herself while they were on missions. _

Yachiru did not mind at all playing tricks on the other unsuspecting Akatsuki. She, Hidan and Kisame had perfected the Inry ou Sunatchi no Jutsu (Beverage Snatch Jutsu), which involved her waterbending a beverage out of an unsuspecting person's cup, while Kisame and Hidan distracted them. It had worked _perfectly_ on Itachi.

"He's going to be looking for us to do it again, so let's try that other one," Kisame said, grinning.

"Which one, you dumb fuck? We practiced so many!" Hidan inserted, as if he had any major part in any of the plans other than talking loudly and distracting the person.

"The one where he can't swallow," Kisame continued, reveling in the opportunity to repay Itachi for preventing so many of his kills. Hidan whooped in laughter, shaking in mirth as Itachi stalked back into the room with a full cup of water.

Itachi didn't know what he expected to see, but this time the water level in his cup stayed put. They must have wised up. He took a sip of the water, enjoying the cool feeling as the liquid slid down his throat. If only he had some pocky to go with it. He set down the cup, and returned to his meal, keeping a sharp eye on his cup. _'I am watching the cup as if I expect the water to magically go down,'_ Itachi thought. Dismissing the idea as foolishness, Itachi turned his full attention back to his meal. He took another sip of his water and swallowed. It was halfway down his throat when it _stopped_! Itachi tried to swallow again, but the glob of water began sliding up and down his throat. Itachi pressed one hand to his throat, and his chopsticks clattered to the table as they fell from his other hand, which was now clutching the table.

Hidan, Yachiru and Kisame stopped talking and were looking at him with concern.

"Oi, 'tachi, you alright?" Kisame asked, one brow raised. Itachi tried to answer, but the blob of water in his throat prevented him from speaking. Panic started to set in as the pressure in his chest began to intensify. He couldn't breathe! Then, the water slid easily down his throat, and the pressure subsided. Still, Itachi took deep breaths, partially in need, and partially in relief. What had happened just now? Were these the repercussions of his last battle?

Yachiru put down her knife, a weird expression on her face.

"I don't feel to eat any more," she said, getting up and taking up her plate. She literally ran from the room. Hidan and Kisame followed at a much slower pace.

Yachiru burst into her room, unsure of how much longer she could refrain from laughing. She collapsed on her bed, stuffed her face into her pillow and laughed until tears rolled down her cheeks. The look on Itachi's face when she had waterbended his water to slide up and down his throat was hilarious! Hidan and Kisame slid into her room, locking the door behind them before they started laughing as well.

"Serves him right for denying me the pleasure of taking out some of those whelps we called opponents these past few years," Kisame said, his sharp teeth flashing a bit as he laughed.

"That Gakona Mizu no Jutsu was freaking epic," Hidan said in relation to the Stubborn Water technique Yachiru had just used on Itachi. "The senseless Uchiha thinks he's so powerful, but we got him good. He totally panicked." He raked his silver hair into his face and his voice took on a monotonous imitation Itachi tone when he said, "Aaaahhh! Aaahh! I, the all powerful Uchiha Itachi, will fucking be dead because of some stupid fucking water in my throat," and schooled his face into Itachi's perpetual apathetic expression. Yachiru sent a gust of air from her palm to cause the Jashinist's hair to flutter dramatically in expression of Itachi's 'coolness'. The three of them laughed, satisfied that their mischievous plan had been carried out without a hitch. Hidan sat on the bed next to Yachiru and looked her in the face, a smirk still adorning his lips. "I don't know if anyone told you this before, but you're one fun bitch."

**oooOooo**

Yachiru was hard pressed not to show her excitement. She had been with the Akatsuki for two months now, and this was her first mission. The mission was around an A-rank difficulty, according to Kisame, and she would join him and Itachi on it. Yachiru understood that this mission was a test. She intended to pass it with flying colours, for she had been training for two whole months now.

The mission was simple. They were asked by the client to find Miramori Oori, a rich dealer who operated a casino in Shinringakure as a front for his drug trade operation. They were to get into his hidden office undetected, kill him quietly, and escape without alerting the guards. Kisame and Itachi, who had done background checks on Miramori, had thought it best that Yachiru try get into the office without their aid. The office, however, was heavily guarded and any noises would be heard by the chuunin-level shinobi placed at the door. It would be too noticeable for Itachi and Kisame to accompany her inside but Yachiru did not mind, for she already had a plan.

As they left the base, Yachiru breathed in the fresh open air. She was wearing her own Akatsuki outfit – a gift from Pein – which consisted of a mid-thigh length black skirt and a cropped top which she wore under her Akatsuki cloak, along with an 8-shaped gourd of water which was strapped to her back. Her shoes, which she had created herself, looked like normal shinobi footwear, but had soles made of compact dirt so she could 'see'. She hadn't told the others about this ability, deciding to keep some of her abilities to herself. She was so caught up in the feeling of freedom that she barely realized that Itachi and Kisame were several paces ahead of her.

Itachi decided not to wait for Yachiru. She would need to learn to keep up. He took to the trees at a decent pace, since they had a deadline to meet. A swift glance to the side told him that Yachiru was hot on his heels. How could she stay in the trees without chakra? Itachi decided he would ask her later. When Yachiru was running right alongside him, Itachi didn't know whether to be impressed or to be annoyed at her competence. He went with annoyed, but he wouldn't let her, or anyone else, know. Trees whizzed past on either side as they jumped from limb to limb. After a while, they dropped to the forest floor and continued running. Out of the corner of his eye, Itachi saw Yachiru pull a snakelike stream of water from her gourd, and freeze it into a ball while running at the same pace he and Kisame were. Without even looking from side to side, she shaved slivers of ice off the ball and they spun off in different directions. It was not until about ten strides further that Itachi sensed the shinobi in the woods. As they drew closer, he saw that the men had slivers of ice sticking into their legs and arms. Yachiru growled in annoyance beside him.

"Need to work on accuracy for that move," she mumbled as an afterthought.

"It's more accurate than the last time I saw it, Yachi-chan. At least you hit them _while_ running this time," Kisame returned with a chuckle. Itachi kept quiet, knowing Kisame spent almost all his free time developing moves and training with the new addition to the Akatsuki. What he wondered, however, was how Yachiru had sensed their positions enough to hit them before _he_ did. Deciding not to have any more of this foolishness, Itachi activated his Sharingan. He didn't get the chance to attack the obviously hostile guard shinobi, for Yachiru ran ahead, sending sharp earthen spikes shooting from the ground with short punching motions. The spikes impaled the chuunin-level shinobi before they had the chance to even clone or substitute themselves out of the way.

"The training is paying off," Yachiru said through a grin as they ran right past the now dead shinobi. Kisame grinned back at her as she fell back in line with him and Itachi.

"Of course it is," Kisame replied.

"Hn," was all Itachi said. He only meant "hn" this time around, for he had no place in the conversation, having purposefully avoided watching or helping Yachiru train. He would not bother to try to explain this to anyone or even himself, but for some reason the way she interacted with Hidan and Kisame frustrated and annoyed him.

In a matter of hours, they reached the village of Kizudetsu. It was the last village before Shinringakure – The Village Hidden in the Forest. Kizudetsu was a somewhat rural village, with dirt streets and small shacks and wooden shops. As they stepped through the village gates, Yachiru was immediately aware of the scent of the village which consisted of the hunger-inducing smells of different types of food. The village had pretty much zero foliage, and was a hot dusty mess, but seemed to be a street-food lover's heaven. Dumpling and ramen shacks were as popular as the air itself, and they all seemed to line off on the main street. The main street itself was rather wide, but this seemed to make no difference at all as it was still crammed with people, carts, donkeys, and even more people. Little children weaved between the legs of the adults, some with dogs hot on their heels. Shinobi from almost every imaginable hidden village were traversing the streets, some tumbling in drunken stupors from bars and others renting rooms in small hotels.

Yachiru felt as if the place was familiar, but, of course, she could not remember being there. Still it was fascinating and a bustling, dirty way. Itachi edged in front of her, and Kisame fell behind, their actions unconsciously protective. Yachiru didn't really need it, but she didn't mind, as her senses were somewhat boggled by the sheer amount of people and creatures she was 'seeing' with her feet. The vibrations and movements were too much. For situations like this, it was best if she had some sort of training so she knew what to look out for. Yachiru made a mental note to ask Hidan and Kisame to help her with it the next time they met to train or hang out.

Yachiru smirked a little, noticing that the crowd parted before Itachi, obviously having an idea of what the red clouds on his cloak stood for, and aware of the power of those red eyes. Yachiru had never seen the power of the Sharingan used on someone else, but Hidan had informed her that the Uchiha had used it to capture her on that first day. She remembered something to do with attacking crows, but nothing else. Hidan and Kisame had spoken to her about genjutsu, but not possessing chakra, Yachiru did not know how to dispel them. Hidan and Kisame had at least taught her how to recognize a genjutsu, but they had made no headway in finding a method for her to be released from the pesky jutsus. Itachi stopped sharply in front of Yachiru, but she 'saw' him, and avoided crashing into his broad back.

"I'm going to meet a contact. I need to see if there are any missions in this area," Itachi said, turning away before Yachiru could comment. She started after him but was held back by Kisame, who had a gleam in his eyes. Yachiru grinned. Whenever Kisame's eyes took on that gleam, she knew she would be having some fun.

"Itachi's favorite food is pocky," Kisame said, gesturing towards a stall that sold little packets of the stick candy. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. She grinned. They went over to the stand, whose patrons cleared when they saw Kisame. Turning round, Yachiru saw why. The tall bluish-grey Akatsuki's grin had disappeared and was replaced with a menacing scowl. "Little whelps," Kisame growled as he and Yachiru moved to the front of the line. The hard tone of his voice was hard, but for a millisecond, a humorous twinkle was in his eyes.

The stall owner was visibly quaking when Kisame slammed his palm on the stall counter.

"What may I get you?" the owner asked, his tone low and shaking in fear. Kisame frowned harder. He leaned forward and stared at the teenager. Yachiru was having a hard time schooling her features into solemnity, because she really wanted to laugh.

"EEHH?" Kisame growled. He turned to Yachiru. "Oi, Yachi-chan, I didn't hear anything he said, and you _know_ how I get when I don't hear." Yachiru nodded almost in pity for the stall owner, who didn't look a day over 16.

"What may I get you?" The teenager asked again, looking to Yachiru with a face that begged for help. Unfortunately, his voice cracked mid-question.

"NANDA?" Kisame growled again, softer this time and therefore more menacing. Yachiru blinked at the youth, telling him to calm down with her large expressive eyes. The stall owner took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm down and gather his courage.

"What may I get you?" He asked, getting the question out at a decent volume, with only a slight quaver at the beginning.

"I want a bag of your freshest pocky… no, make that two bags," Kisame demanded. The boy was about to rush and get two bags of pocky, and maybe give Kisame free, but Yachiru, feeling his nervousness through her feet stared at him calmly and gave a subtle shake of her head. His eyes glued to the beautiful Akatsuki, the pocky vendor stated the price, refraining from backing down when Kisame growled menacingly over the cost only because Yachiru's eyes were telling him not to. He gave the two bags of pocky to her instead of Kisame. As they turned to leave, Yachiru gave the pocky vendor a small smile, before turning her head and following Kisame down the bustling street. She didn't see him, but the pocky vendor watched her back and swaying white hair until she disappeared into the throng of travelers.

"Kid had guts," Kisame said to Yachiru without looking at her. "It wasn't much, but it was there." Yachiru only smiled, deciding not to tell Kisame the part she played in it. It could save the teen's life later on if he ever encountered Kisame again. The two of them stood by the edge of the village's gates, which were on the opposite side to where they had entered from. They looked around the road for the best spot to carry out their plan.

About twenty minutes later, the trio was following the cobbled road that led from Kizudetsu to Shinringakure. Itachi grunted when Kisame stretched, groaned, then declared that he 'needed to take a leak'. He continued walking, knowing his shark-like partner would catch up. Only the sounds of his and Yachiru's footsteps on the road and the breeze rustling the trees on the side of the road filled the air. Soon, the trickle of a stream some distance away joined the sounds.

"You can go ahead. I need to refill my gourd," Yachiru mumbled softly and took off in the direction of the trees. Itachi watched until she disappeared into the trees then continued walking.

"Hn," he mumbled, meaning 'Sure, go on ahead and leave me by myself', a frown knitting his brow only slightly. A slight rustle caught his ear and he stopped abruptly in the road. A small, unopened bag of pocky was laying on the road.

Itachi stared at the bag of pocky. He glanced around for the presence of another, but found no one. Itachi blinked. Only Kisame's chakra was felt somewhere close. Itachi stared at the bag of pocky some more. He really wanted to take it up, but what if Kisame saw him? His partner would never let it drop. Itachi gritted his teeth and scowled. He continued walking until he was right next to the bag of pocky. It seemed to be screaming his name. Another quick glance with his Sharingan told him that he was still alone. Unable to help himself, he bent, and reached for the bag of pocky. It moved out of his range by about a centimeter. Itachi shifted, getting closer to the bag of pocky. It rustled again and moved out of the way. Itachi frowned, silently damning the breeze. When Itachi finally caught the bag of pocky about two minutes later, he looked up and realized he had moved a good three meters from where he had originally been. The bag of sweet stick candy was still sealed, which made Itachi feel a little less stupid for chasing the stupid bag of candy around. As he opened the bag, running footsteps sounded behind him. He turned to see Yachiru and Kisame.

Yachiru waved at him a little as she caught up. Her face looked clean and fresh.

"Sorry to be so long," she said, a little breathless when she caught up. "I just _had_ to wash my face in the stream." Itachi looked to Kisame. An inexplicable emotion crossed Kisame's face.

"Don't ask," the blue Akatsuki mumbled.

"Hn," Itachi returned, and the trio continued down the path.

Yachiru had to clench her teeth and take controlled breaths to keep from laughing. The sight of Uchiha Itachi chasing a bag of pocky when he thought no one was around was not something that she would forget any time soon.

_Yachiru opened a small hole in the rim of the bag of pocky and dropped three small stones in the bag. Pushing heat to her fingers, she pressed the hole closed and allowed the heat to reseal the bag. Kisame was grinning next to her, small rumbling chuckles sounding in his chest and throat. _

_"Where do we put this now?" Yachiru asked Kisame, stifling a laugh with her hand. She and Kisame looked around for a good spot. _

_"Here, give me the bag," Kisame said, a light in his eyes. Yachiru smilingly handed over the bag and watched as Kisame literally disappeared. Her feet, however, 'saw' him running down the road. He stopped a short distance away, just barely in range of her 'sight', paused for a short moment and then came back. "I put it a few meters down the road. There's a stream nearby where…"_

_"…where I can pretend to refill my gourd!" Yachiru interrupted, grinning and pointing to the large clay gourd on her back that Deidara had helped her make. Kisame grinned._

_"…and I can say I need to spring a leak." Yachiru grimaced at Kisame's statement._

_"Where? In the stream?" Kisame laughed at Yachiru's incredulous tone._

_"What? Does that offend you, O Kurokka-sama?" Kisame teased. Yachiru punched him in the arm. _

_"Oh come on, surely you can mark your territory in some place other than where we would get water to drink, sharkie," Yachiru returned, quirking a brow._

_"What, you can't use your all powerful jutsu or power or whatever to _purify_ the water, O Great Yachiru-sama?" Kisame taunted again. _

_"Not unless your piss is made of dirt, sharkie. Find a decent tree to carry out your … ahem… needs," Yachiru said, giving Kisame a playfully disgusted grimace. "In any case, I don't want to see your blue…" Itachi's arrival sent the words she had been about to say crawling back to the safety of her throat. Something told her that the Uchiha would not be as amused as Kisame would be by her words. Kisame cleared his throat suggestively, which told her they would continue the conversation sooner or later, and they turned and continued down the road in silence. They had taken a few paces when Kisame declared he had to take a leak and took off into the woods on one side of the road. Yachiru continued for several meters more with Itachi until she heard the stream. Telling Itachi she was going to refill her gourd, she ran off the road, feeling the distinct difference as she left the dirt path and ran onto the grass. _

_She was soon among the trees, and ran the short distance to where she could see the banks of the stream. Yachiru took in the sight of the clear water that was rushing over the rocks in its bed, and the bright green grasses that lined the banks of the stream. Not wanting to lie, Yachiru decided she would actually put some of the cool fresh water in her gourd. Using one hand, she pulled a snake of water from the stream, and pulled the excess dirt particles from it with her other hand. Using both hands, she guided the water into her gourd, feeling the additional weight as the water slid into the container on her back. She washed her face, mentally calculating the time it would take for Itachi to reach the bag of pocky. Turning, she ran back, darting back around a bend in the road to meet Kisame on the other side. _

_"Wonder if he's reached it yet," Kisame said, reaching towards Yachiru. A grimace on her face, Yachiru jumped back in distaste. _

_"Don't touch me with those hands, sharkie," she chuckled, pulling a small line of water from her gourd, directing it to the blue Akatsuki's hands. "I know where they've been." Kisame raised a brow and snorted, rubbing his hands together under the water._

_"Women," he muttered. The two of them then turned and ran to catch up with Itachi. When they came closer, Kisame half-cloaked his chakra. The duo hid behind some of the trees, out of Itachi's periphery and watched him. He was staring at the bag of pocky on the road. "Pick it up, Uchiha," Kisame mumbled under his breath. The Uchiha stared some more at the bag and took a quick glance around. Yachiru nudged Kisame's elbow and giggled._

_"He's going for it," she murmured, a grin stretching her cheeks. Itachi continued walking. _

_"Damn it, Itachi," Kisame growled in disappointment. "It's a freaking bag of pocky. You love the stuff, so pick it up!" Yachiru groaned._

_"He's not gonna pick it up," she mumbled resignedly. At the last moment, Itachi looked around again, then bent and reached towards the bag or stick candy. Grinning, Yachiru used her hands to make the little stones in the bag roll to the side, pushing the bag out of Itachi's reach. Every time Itachi reached for the bag, Yachiru made the bag move just out of his reach in movements so small that they wouldn't raise any suspicions within the Uchiha. _

_"K omoku o Ido no Jutsu is a success," Kisame said, and buried his face in his hands to smother his laughter and prevent blowing their cover. After about a minute and a half of watching Uchiha Itachi chase around a bag of pocky, Kisame and Yachiru decided to let him have his prize. They turned and ran back a ways, then stepped out onto the road. The duo tried to squelch the grins that resiliently stuck to their faces and jogged to catch up with Itachi. He had just opened the bag of pocky when he turned to watch them catch up._

_Under the guise of waving at him, Yachiru lifted the stones out of the bag and let them fall to the ground. _

The trio arrived at Shinringakure roughly two hours later, when the sun was on its way back down. They were, in fact, just in time for a late midday meal, which they decided they would take at the casino. Shinringakure, unlike Kizudetsu, had lots of trees in and on the outskirts of the village. Shinringakure was small, not even having a daimyo or ninja academy, but was fairly busy and had an excellent nightlife if what Deidara and Hidan said was true. Still, the casinos spread out along the main streets attested to their claim. Itachi led them to a small ramen shop on the main street and purchased a bowl of beef ramen. The owner gave him a small nod, then returned with a brown paper-wrapped package. Itachi took it from him, his perpetual apathetic expression in place. He didn't even spare the man one of his usual 'Hn's.

Itachi handed the bowl of ramen to Yachiru, who inhaled the delicious scent of the ramen which emanated from the hot ceramic bowl. Taking a pair of wooden chopsticks from Itachi's outstretched fingers she placed them on the counter next to the bowl and clapped her hands together.

"Itadakimasu," she mumbled respectfully before pulling the chopsticks apart and digging in. The ramen was the most delicious thing she remembered tasting, a fact which elicited a moan of gustatory appreciation from Yachiru. Itachi looked sharply at her before glancing away. Kisame had a wolfish gleam in his eyes. When Yachiru realized it was because of the sound she made, heat rose to her full cheeks. "What? It's really good," she said, defending herself. To prove her point to Itachi, who simply raised a brow, she clasped some of the noodles with her chopsticks and stuck the bounty laden utensils into his face.

Itachi had felt a warm pressure in his gut when Yachiru moaned in appreciation of the ramen. _'Is that how she would sound if…'_ Itachi mentally Chidori-ed the thought to a chirping death. Kisame's wolfish grin annoyed the hell out of Itachi, especially because Yachiru flushed so attractively as a result. She proclaimed that the ramen was really good, and Itachi was about to reply with his customary 'Hn', but found that the sound refused to make its usually graceful exodus from his throat. Instead it spread imaginary legs in his throat and resolutely refused to move. Itachi had to make do with a raised eyebrow.

The next thing he knew, chopsticks laden with ramen noodles and beef was shoved into his face.

_'She doesn't expect me to… She's not trying to feed me, is she?'_ Itachi thought in disbelief, staring at the offering. Realizing she was not going to move it by the embarrassedly determined expression on her face, Itachi had no choice but to accept the offering, knowing that refraining would make him look petty… _which he was not!_ Kisame was snickering as Itachi chewed.

"It _is_ good," Itachi had to admit after swallowing. He watched Yachiru's eyes swivel to the still chuckling Kisame. In seconds a similar offering was shoved in Kisame's face.

"Oh, hell no," Kisame said, leaning away from the noodles. "You are _not_ feeding me anything." Yachiru rolled her eyes.

"Oh, shut up and eat it, sharky," she said, moving the noodles closer to Kisame's face. "I will make it more embarrassing the longer you take," the white-haired female added, a dangerous twinkle in her eyes. Kisame quickly accepted the offering, making a point to make direct eye contact with Yachiru. Her flushed reaction did _not_ sit well with Itachi.

They left the ramen shop a few minutes later and, once outside, Itachi handed the brown package to Yachiru.

"Put that on," he said curtly. Yachiru took the package, which was soft.

"What is it?" she asked. Itachi was about to answer, but Kisame stopped him.

"It's better if you see it _when_ you're putting it on," Kisame said, grinning. Yachiru raised one white arched eyebrow, but decided to let Kisame have his fun. After all, it was better not to let mischief stack up against her person; she had been dishing out a lot lately, and just in case karma was a real thing it was better to play it safe. Itachi led the way to a small bed and breakfast and they checked in for one room.

"We aren't staying the night," Itachi said in response to Yachiru's questioning look.

"Unless, of course, you _want_ to," Kisame piped up, chuckling to himself. Yachiru rolled her eyes and followed Itachi to the room, which was simple and fairly spacious. Yachiru unstrapped her gourd, set it on the floor and took the package into the bathroom that adjoined the room. She locked to door behind her. She rested the package on the top of the toilet seat and removed her clothes, dropping them in a heap on the floor.

She stepped into the shower and took a quick but thorough shower in cold water. She took time washing her white hair because; let's face it, white gets dirty easily. Waterbending the excess water off her body and out of her hair, Yachiru sent it down the drain. She used her hands to send a draft of air over her body and hair drying herself properly.

The brown package sitting on the toilet seat got a long stare from a naked Yachiru before she decided to open it. As she put the clothes on, Yachiru wondered which of the Akatsuki members had been perverted enough to choose this outfit for her to wear. Her mind kept inching back to Kisame whom she highly suspected was a closet pervert. She pulled her Akatsuki cloak over the outfit and stepped out of the bathroom, mentally readying herself for the task ahead. Taking out a highly guarded drug runner with no fuss would be difficult, but she had a plan _and_ a backup plan.

Kisame and Itachi looked up as she stepped out of the bathroom. Kisame looked disgruntled to see her in the Akatsuki cloak, and Itachi simply raised a brow.

"You can't wear that in there," Itachi said. "It will attract too much attention." Yachiru rolled her eyes and opened the Akatsuki cloak, revealing the outfit underneath.

"And this won't, right?" she asked in a sarcastic tone, letting the cloak fall to the ground and giving a little turn to show off the outfit.

Itachi's face reddened only slightly and Kisame whistled a bit in wonder and masculine appreciation. He sounded suspiciously like Hidan when he spoke.

"Damn, bitch. If _you_ don't kill him, **_that_** will."

**A/N:- Heh! Chapter DUN! Yes, yes, before you kill me, there ****_will_**** be a description of the outfit in the next chapter. Soooohhhh I hope you liked this chapter! The next one will still be somewhat lighthearted, but will be more serious as well. Please oh please review on this chapter. I am desperate to know what you think! I had fun typing this and I sure hope you had fun reading it! Reviews make my fingers type faster!**


	5. Silent Kill

***Chapter 5: Silent Kill***

**Urk! Sometimes I hate myself! Okay so remember how the last chapter ended? Sure you do. Well, I had the outfit planned in my head, but when I drew it, it looked WAY too modern and totally UN-Naruto, so I had to try and fit it into the era. Not as naughty as the original IMO, but it will have to do. Let me know what you think, in any case. If you want me to, I can create a one-shot with the original outfit, but then you would have to review or PM me and let me know. Shout out to Len, MissMeep and Psuedobeast, as well as the guests for reviewing! Also whoever favorited or is following me.. THANK YOU! You're brightness to my totally stressed out life atm! As you already know, this story is AU. Well, without further ado…**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sasuke would be nonexistent, or at least not so damn annoying…but I don't, so such is life…**

-Prologue-

_Flashback is written in italics._

'_Thoughts in italics and enclosed in quotes'_

Normal writing is in normal text.

"Dialogue is in normal text enclosed in open and closed quotations."

'**_Black Zetsu and Kyuubi speak in bold italics enclosed in quotations.'_**

**Bold text shows time frames and places.**

**Previously on Left to the Elements:**

Kisame and Itachi looked up as she stepped out of the bathroom. Kisame looked disgruntled to see her in the Akatsuki cloak, and Itachi simply raised a brow.

"You can't wear that in there," Itachi said. "It will attract too much attention." Yachiru rolled her eyes and opened the Akatsuki cloak, revealing the outfit underneath.

"And this won't, right?" she asked in a sarcastic tone, letting the cloak fall to the ground and giving a little turn to show off the outfit.

Itachi's face reddened only slightly and Kisame whistled a bit in wonder and masculine appreciation. He sounded suspiciously like Hidan when he spoke.

"Damn, bitch. If _you_ don't kill him, **_that_** will."

**oooOooo**

Kisame blinked at the newest member to the Akatsuki. Her attire still resembled that of a kunoichi in some way, but was _so_ much better than the norm. Maybe if he was persistent enough, he could convince her to wear it all the time, even under her Akatsuki cloak.

Yachiru was wearing an extremely form-fitting corseted top that squeezed her perfect-sized breasts up at the top. With tiny round metal hook-and-button clasps that made a tiny trail down the centre, the corset had one red Akatsuki cloud embroidery pattern which wrapped around her left side. The back of the corset dipped low in a 'V' exposing the creamy, unmarred skin of her back. Low on her hips, Yachiru wore a pair of short net shorts underneath a miniscule black skirt. The black skirt was slit open both sides so the central flap at the front slid between her legs to reveal most of her upper thighs, and an inch of her skin showed between the corset and the top of the skirt. Her slim, toned legs were bare and she was wearing a pair of shiny black pumps that perfectly accentuated her slim ankles and the now curved dorsal surface of her foot which was ever so lightly veined. She was also wearing mesh armbands over her elbows. When she spun around, her silky curtain of straight white hair swirled in the air behind her. Black liner on her lids made her long, pale lashes stand out even more than normal and the pendant of her chain, a red Akatsuki cloud, rested in the 'V' between her breasts.

"Whose idea was this?" Yachiru asked while glaring directly at Kisame. An innocent expression came over the blue Akatsuki's face.

"Don't look at me! I had no idea Itachi's tastes ran that…" Itachi got up in the middle of Kisame's sentence and stalked over to the door. He paused at the door and looked back at Yachiru, an odd expression on his face.

"Hn-…" Itachi said, turning his face back to the door and pushing it open. He took a sharp little breath and walked out of the room. Behind him, Yachiru's eyes were as wide as saucers. She looked to Kisame.

"You mean to tell me that _he-_ … That _Itachi_… ?" Kisame blinked and nodded mutely. Then he seemingly recovered and spoke.

"Will you please wear that all the time?"

Itachi pushed out of the room, locked the door behind him, and leaned against the wall. He took a deep breath. Truth be told, when he had first seen the choices of designs, _that_ one in particular had made him think of Yachiru. For that very reason, he had almost decided not to go with it, but the design had stuck in his head and was the best looking choice, so he had picked it. Still, nothing could have prepared Itachi for seeing the design on the actual woman. It had fit her perfectly. Itachi shook his head, trying to get the image of her pale chest heaving with every breath from his mind. It didn't work. He told himself that he never wanted to see her in that sort of outfit again, but he had sense enough to know that he was lying to himself. Still, at this point, such a thought was in preservation of some modicum of control and he would hang on to it for dear life.

Itachi had a sinking feeling that the image of Yachiru in that outfit, her hair swirling behind her, would stick in his mind and appear at the most inappropriate times. Like when he was asleep and defenseless. The Uchiha took a deep breath and pushed the image as far out of his mind as possible; at least for now, for he knew that he would be sitting with nothing doing until Yachiru finished the mission. _The mission_. Itachi frowned. The thought of some other man seeing Yachiru or being entertained by her while she was wearing _that_ outfit did not sit well with him **at all.**

"Hn," he mumbled. What was going on?

**oooOooo**

Roughly half an hour later, Yachiru was stepping away from Kisame and Itachi, willing herself to cast away all nervousness. She pulled an ankle length brown cloak over herself, feeling the gentle breeze as it settled around her. Before her loomed the impressive casino she was supposed to infiltrate, and even though she was facing the back entrance, the building was no less imposing. The forest behind her lent a dark cast to the area, even though it was just nearing sunset. The plan was to stay in the casino for an hour or an hour and a half, get the guests used to seeing her, then gain access to Miramori Oori's office and quietly kill him. The point of Yachiru's plan was to be untraceable; but that was before she had seen the outfit _Itachi_ had chosen for her. Now, all she could do was to try and make the actual killing untraceable, and escape using the cover of the night.

Yachiru opened the back door and slipped inside the casino. She found herself in the back room of what appeared to be a kitchen. Itachi had told her that the casino also had a dining area for its patrons. Knowing she would stand out too much in the outfit she was wearing when she caught a glimpse of the casino staff, Yachiru decided she needed to come up with a backup plan.

Kisame grinned when Yachiru stepped back outside. She hadn't even been gone two minutes.

"What, you scared, or you done already?" he asked, chuckling a bit to himself. Predictably, she rolled her eyes.

"I need to formulate another plan. _Itachi's_ grand costume kind of wrecked my cover of blending in until it got dark enough for me to escape." She looked pointedly at Itachi, who was conveniently staring into the trees.

"Hn," was all that came from her apathetic teammate. Yachiru rolled her eyes again, still uncertain how it came to be that Itachi of all people had chosen the outfit for her. Yachiru tugged her cloak tighter around her and walked back to the back door.

"Come up with something already?" Kisame asked, an amused expression on his face. Yachiru turned back and faced him with a confident grin.

"Yes," she answered in her usual direct fashion. "Be out in a moment." Then she was gone, and the back door slammed behind her. Kisame turned to Itachi.

"Oi, Uchiha… If I didn't know better, I'd say you had the hots for Yachiru," he said to his partner. Itachi didn't respond, and even though it might be viewed as Itachi's most expected reaction, Kisame knew his partner, and he would have said something if the comment hadn't hit close to home. Kisame tried again. "What was up with that outfit, Itachi? I mean, I'm all for it, but…" Kisame's voice trailed off when Itachi leveled him with a hard stare. Oh. So that meant that Itachi wasn't exactly pleased with himself. Kisame smiled at the implications. This was going to be a fun couple of months, alright, or as long as Yachiru was with them. Truth be told, if Yachiru hadn't stuck him in the friend zone, he probably would have tried something, but then he might end up in the same place as Itachi: sulking and excluded from all the fun activities.

Inside the casino, Yachiru stalked confidently around the kitchen, overlooking all that went on, and sampling the dishes, complimenting the cooks or expressing her distaste/appreciation. At first, the cooks looked at her in alarm, but her confident air while directing them had them think she must be some sort of critic, even though critics usually sat in the dining area and waited to be served. After about half an hour, Yachiru stalked up to the head-chef, who seemed none too pleased by her presence.

"Show me Miramori-sama's order for tonight," she demanded, narrowing her eyes. The head-chef looked as if he was going to protest her attitude when Yachiru flicked her hair over her shoulder and glared. "Don't you dare back-answer me. I can make your life living hell if you do. And I _know_ your opinion of Miramori-sama, so I have to check his meals first to make sure it is safe." Her bluff and flashing eyes had the desired effect. The head-chef's eyes widened and he blinked furiously and stepped back. He led her to a seemingly private burner to the back of the kitchen.

"This is what he ordered. Banana Flambée," he said, pointing to a pan of bananas on the stove. "It's supposed to be aflame when it's presented to him, for the decorative edge, so we will do those last," he elaborated. "Then that is sake-barbecued pork slivers," he continued, gesturing towards the thinly sliced pork that was currently being barbequed over open flame on a grill. A pot of bubbling, deep-red sauce was on the burner next to it. Moving on to the oven, the head-chef opened it and showed Yachiru a small bubbling dish inside. Yachiru flinched only slightly at the sudden burst of heat from the stove. "Those are potatoes, scalloped," he added. Yachiru noticed that apart from the pork on the grill, these dishes were un-traditional. In fact, she had never heard of them before. It suddenly hit her that there might be many things she had heard of before but wouldn't remember. The chef wasn't done. He walked over to a counter with an array of vegetables and fruits clustered on it. "This is Miramori-sama's favorite salad. We named it the Oora Salad after him," the chef continued, his tone suggesting that it was not _him_ that had come up with the idea. He began to describe the names of all the dishes.

Pretending to show her approval, Yachiru continued to oversee the other more familiar dishes that the other cooks were attending, biding her time until Miramori's dinner was completed.

Twenty minutes later saw Yachiru stalking confidently behind a trolley to Miramori's office. Three shinobi, complete in flak jackets and slashed hitai-ate were standing guard at the office door, and Yachiru could 'see' more of them hiding in the walls. Their figures were blurry because of the shoes she had to be wearing. The guards eyed her and the steaming pan of Banana Flambée dubiously, stepping protectively in front of the office door. Two of them moved to the back, kunai drawn and raised, and the other one stepped forward, a wary look on his face.

"Good evening," Yachiru said politely, smiling. She was still wearing her brown cloak.

"Stop. We have to search you and the trolley," he said, his voice low and husky. Yachiru stopped obediently, knowing they would find no weapons on her. The shinobi guard opened her cloak, and his eyes widened imperceptibly. A light red flush brushed his cheeks. He gave her a once over before patting her down. Finding no weapons on her, he called forth one of the guards in back with a wave of his hand. The other guard came forward with silent steps, and proceeded to check out the trolley of food. Apparently finding it safe, he stepped out of the way and stood against the wall. Yachiru smiled again and pushed the trolley up to the door which the last guard was holding open.

Outside, the waiting was killing Itachi. It had been about an hour now, but there was no sign of any change. The images of Yachiru in that outfit doing unacceptable things with the target that kept popping up in his mind's eye were driving him insane and he couldn't seem to just sit there in silence in the cover of the trees. He was about to walk around to the front when Kisame's hard hand clamped down firmly on his shoulder.

"We have to stay _outside_, Itachi," his partner reminded him in a low tone. Itachi clenched his teeth and stepped back into the spot he had previously been standing in. Beside him, Kisame was looking at him with something akin to disbelief. He had never seen the Uchiha this antsy before. Still, even though he knew his partner very well, Kisame couldn't claim to know everything his partner was thinking. Sometimes the Uchiha thought along lines no one else really would. Maybe this was one of those times and the Uchiha had other motives for wanting to enter the casino, but Kisame couldn't be sure, and he couldn't risk the mission by allowing him to go inside since the reward was so high and he did _not_ want to fight Kakuzu.

Inside, Yachiru was having a hard time keeping her shock at Miramori's appearance to herself. She had imagined him as a fat, unappealing man approaching or past middle age, who lived a rich, opulent life. She had expected him to have heavily ringed fingers and a balding head and to be totally disgusting to someone her age and mind. What she found instead was a tastefully dressed _young_ man, about the same age as Deidara, with shoulder-length red hair that was neatly combed, and a strong, handsome face. He was also well built and healthy, obviously one that did not partake of his stock. At the moment, Miramori was writing on a scroll, his penmanship neat and strong.

Around him, the office was simple, but tastefully decorated. A large room, Miramori's office was painted a deep grey with burgundy trimmings at the top and bottom of the walls. The majority of the items in the room were silver, and some bronze. A large scroll rack adorned the wall on one corner, and it was locked by a glass door that was crystal clear and shined to perfection. Miramori's desk was large and was set in the center of the room on a deep burgundy rug. The desk was devoid of items apart from the writing apparatus and scroll as well as a teardrop-shaped paperweight.

"You can leave the trolley, Sato-san. I'll eat as soon as I'm done this," Miramori said absently. He frowned a little when he realized 'Sato-san' was not leaving, and looked up. His eyes widened as he took in the beautiful white haired female standing in his office, a large brown cloak over her shoulders. She smiled softly and established the fact that even though Miramori was not usually one to partake of the assets of his staff, he might make an exception for this one. "I haven't seen you before," the drug-dealer said, resting his brush in the inkwell and leaning back in his chair. Yachiru only smiled. "You must be new," Miramori continued.

"Oh, but I don't work here, Miramori-sama," Yachiru replied in her 'soft-tone'. "You see," she murmered, gliding up to Miramori's desk, "One of your … _clients_ was so pleased with the … _results_… that he sent me here to express his gratitude. Miramori's eyelids lowered as he gazed at the beautiful woman in his office. Her cloak fell to the ground and his eyes widened.

**oooOooo**

"C'mon, tell us, Yachiru, how'd you do it?" Kisame tried again. Hidan was next to him, facing her across the Akatsuki dining table. Miramori Oora was very much dead, but Yachiru was refusing to give up the secret method. Hidan wasn't speaking, for once, but was rather staring at Yachiru distractedly. When she had returned the night before, he had seen her in the outfit she had worn on the mission and had been strangely quiet since. He did not even seem interested in how Yachiru had taken out the target. Kisame however, had been doggedly questioning her about what she had done. There had been no fuss _at all_, even though it was obvious to the contact and to the Akatsuki that Miramori had indeed taken his last breaths last night.

"Wouldn't you like to know!" Yachiru retorted.

"Give us a hint at least, un," Deidara's voice came from the doorway. He walked over, bouncing his latest clay bomb in his palm.

"And you call yourself Akatsuki. Find out on your own," Yachiru scoffed, getting up from the table and walking to the door, brushing past Deidara on the way. At the door, however, she paused. "You were right, Kisame. The outfit helped a lot." She giggled and left the dining area, and her Akatsuki friends to mull over her words in silence.

They weren't the only ones mulling over her method of choice. In his quarters, Itachi was also pondering the way she had taken out the target. Whatever she had done, it had been perfect, for there was no fuss, no struggles, no confusion. Miramori was the only one that had died, and Yachiru had not even been required to run out of the casino. Instead, she had walked out at a leisurely pace, a slightly pensive expression on her face. He remembered the scene clearly.

_Kisame and Itachi looked up when the casino's grey metal back door creaked open, and Yachiru stepped calmly outside. Her white curtain of hair, which she tossed over her shoulder with a flick of the head, was only slightly mussed, but her clothes and makeup were all intact. Her eyes were downcast in thought, white lashes fanning out over her cheeks, but her movements were slow and easy. She blinked slowly and looked up at their expectant faces, a small smile gracing her lips._

_"Yes, I'm done. The target was taken out," she said softly, slightly amused at the fact that there was some doubt in their minds that she would be unable to carry out the task. _

_"Hn," Itachi grunted, meaning 'How did you do it?', but Yachiru only gave him another small smile and walked past him, her footsteps crunching on the dirt. Kisame looked to him, one eyebrow raised. Neither of the two men knew how she had taken out someone as influential as Miramori without disturbance, but at the moment they didn't have much choice but to follow her. The sun was disappearing on the horizon, casting a pinkish-orange glow in the sky, and the colour was reflected on Yachiru's hair. They walked behind her, deep in thought, until they were back at the bed and breakfast. Itachi got their key from the clerk at the desk and they headed to the rooms to get Yachiru's stuff before they headed back to base. The men shifted wordlessly, waiting on her to volunteer information about how she had taken out Miramori, but she appeared deep in thought. She attached her gourd to her back and handed a sealing scroll and her folded clothes to Kisame. _

_"Seal those, would you?" she asked in her usual tone. Kisame took the scroll, a questioning expression on his face. _

_"How did you do it?" Itachi asked, breaking the silence that followed her question. She looked up to him. She blinked._

_He stared._

_She blinked._

_He stared._

_Kisame looked back and forth between them. Waiting. _

_"Time will tell," Yachiru answered after a moment, turning and heading towards the door. Kisame and Itachi watched as she walked from the room. When she was gone, Kisame turned to Itachi._

_"Can't you use your Sharingan or something to make her tell? I don't like waiting," Kisame whispered to Itachi. Itachi leveled him with a blank stare._

_"Hn," he replied, before turning and walking out after Yachiru. Kisame looked up at the wooden ceiling of the room and groaned in frustration. He rolled his eyes, a trait he noticed Yachiru doing a lot, and followed his two teammates outside. _

Itachi wondered why he was hesitant to take positive action to get the method out of Yachiru. He had his suspicions, but was in no mood to explore them. He sighed and turned his mind to other things.

**Konohagakure**

**Morning…**

Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage, looked over the team she had assembled upon receiving one of the day's first requests. This one had jumped the line due to its sensitive status. One of Konoha's most used informants, Miramori Oora, was found dead early in the morning, and his caretaker had sent word to her, asking for an investigation. She glanced down at the mission request one more time.

_Godaime Hogake-sama, _

_It has come to my attention that my charge, Miramori Oora, passed away some time last night, or this morning. Due to his status and importance to both Konoha and I, I find it hard to believe that such a healthy, virile, and self-sufficient young man of such means and importance would die of natural causes at his peak age, while being so well guarded. I request an extremely quiet investigation, preferably with the exclusion of the ANBU (whom I find hard to trust), into the matter. The office of my charge was left exactly as it was found, with Miramori exactly where he was found. This investigation needs to be carried out as soon as possible. I am willing to offer one and a half million r yo to each person you put on the team, and a summation of this amount to Konohagakure itself as this mission can be classified as A-rank, due to its sensitivity._

_Uzuro Utake._

Tsunade pressed her fingertips to her forehead and sent healing chakra to her fingers in an effort to stave off her oncoming headache. The shinobi in front her shuffled a bit, anxious to know why she had summoned them at such an early hour. In fact, the sky was just now lighting up.

"Kakashi, Shikamaru, Sakura, Shino," she paused as she looked them over. "I know this is not your usual team, but I hope you can work together as this mission is extremely important." The recently-made jounin looked from one to another, apart from Kakashi who was reading the latest Icha Icha book regardless of the time or place. "Kakashi!" the Godaime Hokage yelled, her fists clenched. The Copy-nin's eye looked up to Tsunade, widened, then rolled. "Yes, this mission is an A-rank mission, and it requires a bit of stealth and a lot of concentration," Tsunade continued.

"What are we supposed to do, Hokage-sama?" Shino asked quietly, adjusting his dark glasses with an index finger.

"I was getting to that," Tsunade bit out. "One of our informants died either early this morning, or last night. We need to find out everything we can about his death. Who did it, and why? The client has left the office and corpse of our late informant, Miramori, exactly as it was found early this morning. The office is in the back room of a casino in Shinringakure, and will take you approximately half a day running to get there, so you have to leave ASAP." Tsunade handed the mission file she had drawn up from the request to Kakashi, while the group nodded. "Sakura," Tsunade continued, "I need you to check his body. If you can't find anything on the spot, bring the body back to our labs. Shino, see if there is any residual chakra signatures around the place and do a report of your findings. Shikamaru, try to come up with a method of killing, if it is that his death was indeed not a suicide or of natural causes. Kakashi… watch over them," Tsunade instructed. The shinobi and kunochi in her office nodded shortly and turned to leave. "Shikamaru," Tsunade called as he turned to follow his new teammates. "You stay. I need to discuss an issue with you before you leave."

Shikamaru stopped walking and turned back around, waiting for the other three to leave the office.

"I haven't heard much on the Akatsuki for a while and it is bothering me," Tsunade said bluntly, rubbing her forehead with her fingers. Shikamaru stuck one hand in his pocket and scratched his head with the other.

"I know. It's so troublesome," he sighed. "I think they're planning something." Tsunade scowled.

"D'you think it has anything to do with Naruto?" she asked. "I expect it does." Shikamaru looked to the ceiling, frowning a little.

"It is possible, but it's hard to tell. They haven't caught the shichibi or the hachibi yet, and Naruto is the kyuubi, so I'm not quite sure. However, we have to take into consideration that they have shown evidence of planning ahead in several cases," Shikamaru replied. Tsunade fumbled in her desk drawer for her flask of sake.

"I am still uneasy. I haven't heard anything from the scouts, but check them and the informants and the pickup points along the way to Shinringakure and see if you can find anything. I don't like that I have no idea what they are doing." Shikamaru nodded.

"I'll also keep an eye out for anything relating to them when we get to the site. We need to see if there is anything there that links them to the death," Shikamaru said.

"I was just about to say so myself," Tsunade said. "In any case, it's best you hurry up and go see before any more evidence goes to waste."

"Hai, Hokage-same," Shikamaru said, before teleporting out of Tsunade's office. Tsunade took a swig of her sake, looking out as the morning sun spread its golden rays over the slowly awakening village. She sighed, deep in thought. She would not stand there and let the Akatsuki do what they would to Naruto. After all, they had already killed Gaara when they removed Shukaku, and even though Chiyo had sacrificed her life to bring back Gaara, Tsunade did not want the situation to reach that far in Naruto's case. This lack of action, or rather, noticeable action from the Akatsuki was a concern. Tsunade made a mental note to reinforce the Konohagakure military forces.

Sakura, Shino and Shikamaru kept up their fast pace behind Kakashi, jumping from tree to tree. Shino's bugs were blazing the trail, helping them avoid any unnecessary holdups with other shinobi and their chakra was cloaked to avoid detection. Shikamaru was deep in thought when Shino suddenly spoke.

"A group of ninja are heading towards us, and their chakra is not friendly. Do we fight or avoid?"

"How far, and how many?" Kakashi asked. Altering his pace only slightly. It didn't even take Shino a second to reply.

"100 feet to the northwest," he responded in his characteristic tone. "… and there are six of them. Based on their chakra signatures and detectable control, they are at least chuunin level." Kakashi grunted.

"Maybe it's best we avoid," Shikamaru responded. "It's too time consuming and troublesome to have them to fight right now when evidence is steadily being lost." The rest of the team grunted their agreement.

"Alright then, formation 6," Kakashi said, referring to one of the formations he had briefed them on at the start of their journey. Formation 6 required the shinobi in a group to split apart in two groups of two, and pass the threat to be avoided on both sides, then meet back up together again behind the threat. The formation also required complete cloaking of the chakra to lessen the probability of detection. Sakura and Shikamaru split to the left side as previously decided, since they could fight well together should they be apprehended. They had come up with a theoretically powerful combination that would utilize Shikamaru's clan shadow techniques and Sakura's monstrous strength. Kakashi and Shino went to the right.

The two teams went far enough to either side so that the ninja they were avoiding would have to go out of their way to meet up with them. A safe distance behind the ninja, the two duos of Konoha shinobi met back up and continued on their way. The rest of the journey to Shinringakure passed without result, and they made it there in three-quarters of the estimated time.

The shinobi entered through the back door of the casino, passed through the kitchen, and went down the hall to the office of Miramori. The jounin-level shinobi guards at the door let them through when they realized who they were.

Upon entering the office, they found the body of Miramori slumped on the floor behind his desk, sitting with his back to the wall. The shinobi team immediately got to work. Shikamaru moved to one corner of the large office, bent his knees in a squat and pressed the tips of his fingers and thumbs together. Shino sent a stream of bugs into the room and frowned as he concentrated on gathering information. Sakura headed to the corpse, opening her med kit as she walked. Kneeling before the corpse, Sakura began her preliminary investigation, jotting down results on a pad of paper. Kakashi moved to the back of the room and surveyed it with his Sharingan. As Sakura worked, she became increasingly confused. Still, it was harder to tell what the cause of death was in cases like this where it wasn't the most obvious, such as decapitation, piercing of the vital organs etc. The body was still in rigor mortis, which meant that Miramori had died within 24 hours, based on the timeline the mission file had, and the level of rigor mortis attested to a maximum of 18 hours since Miramori's death. This was held by his liver temperature, which put the time of death between 6:30 and 7:00 pm the evening/night before. Shino's bugs, which he had taught to pick up and communicate residual chakra, told him that no residual chakra apart from that of Miramori was in the room.

Two hours after the commencement of their examination, Kakashi pulled them together to pool their findings.

"Seems to be natural causes so far."

"This feels like murder." Sakura and Shikamaru spoke at the same time. Sakura thought it was natural, and Shikamaru thought it was murder. Kakashi stepped in.

"Well, let's review the findings one by one and at the end we can decide. If we still can't agree on something, we can take the body back to Konoha and look it over," Kakashi said. "Shino, you go first." Shino nodded and started.

"My bugs are telling me that there was no other person in the room apart from the victim, for the past 24 hours. The faintness of the residual chakra that does not belong to the victim is such that it informs me that any other person in this room left from about 3:00 pm yesterday. We can't sense any other residual chakra at all." Shikamaru frowned at this, but stayed silent. Kakashi glanced at Sakura, urging her to continue.

"From the preliminary check, his body is in peak condition, pre-death, of course. His liver temperature reading puts time of death at approximately 6:30 to 7:00 pm last night. There are no traces of foreign chakra, poisons or anything like that in his body that I can pick up at the moment, and I took small samples of the food after I took photos of it, and the food seems poison-free, even though it did not seem to be touched in any way after cooking. With my check on the body, I couldn't find any traceable damage to the organs or muscles, which is backing up my theory that the death was natural," Sakura said. Kakashi nodded and turned to Shikamaru.

"This is all so troublesome," the lazy genius moaned. "Looking at his body placement, I can't think of a reason he would be like that, unless the contact moved his body. The mission file, however, states that the office and the body were left as discovered. The victim's writing material supports this, because the kanji the victim was writing is completed without splotching, or blotting. Also, there is no sign of a struggle, as everything seems to be neatly positioned, and from his writing style and room décor, he seems to be the type of person that needs everything done neatly. Also, the food cart there next to the desk is in good condition, because the food looks neat; like he had not even started eating yet." Shikamaru was still frowning as he spoke. "However, what Sakura and Shino said pose a problem for me. If no one was in here since 3:00pm yesterday evening, and he died between 6:30 and 7:00 pm last night, and there is no poisons or alien chakra in his body that can be found, I fail to see how he would have been murdered. There is no blood on his face at all, which would signify a fatal genjutsu, so I would have to think it over. It could go either way, even though it still feels distinctly like murder." Kakashi frowned at Shikamaru's statement and reasoning. He had to agree with Shikamaru.

"Well, based on what you have all said, it is best we take the body back to Konoha to perform a proper autopsy, and then we can go from there," Kakashi said, taking a scroll from his pack. Opening the scroll and laying it on the ground, he did the necessary hand seals and released a camera from it. This he used to take pictures of everything in the room from different angles and positions. Shikamaru and Sakura gently wrapped the body and sealed it in another scroll with a blood seal, which would ensure that only one of the two of them could open the scroll. This they handed to Kakashi, who was the strongest of the four of them. Sakura packed up her medical apparatus and the four of them strode from the room.

**Akatsuki Hideout**

Kisame realized after a while that Yachiru was not going to reveal how she killed Miramori. Not even guessing for the right answer would stimulate her into spilling the beans. He then decided to drop the subject, after forcing her to promise to tell them when the timing was right. They were sitting in the general area … well Kisame, Hidan and Yachiru were, and the others were elsewhere.

"Yare yare… it's fucking boring in this place," Hidan moaned, dropping his head onto Yachiru's shoulder. "What other crap can we pull on the others?" he asked. Kisame and Yachiru grinned.

Itachi looked over the book in the library that looked the least dusty; ergo the most recently read one. The book also looked familiar, and Itachi had recognized it as one he had seen Yachiru reading two days before.

_Itachi pushed open the door to Yachiru's room to see her lying in her bed, reading a blue cloth-bound book, a glass of water on the ground next to her bed. She didn't even look up as he entered; a fact that annoyed him for some reason. _

_"Yachiru-san, you will prepare the meal for us today," he said. Yachiru looked up then, rolling her eyes at him. She continued reading. "Yachiru-san," he said again, allowing killing intent to flow from his body. Her finger paused on the page she was reading and she looked up at him balefully. Then she rolled her eyes again and swung her feet to the floor, the book still open in her hands. _

_"You wish," she said. It took Itachi a moment to realize what she was saying, and his eyes narrowed. He took a step forward only to have a wall of earth shoot up before him. He growled in annoyance. Without further ado, he sent a hard punch into the wall followed by a kick to the same spot and the wall crumbled. He stepped over the rubble and approached her._

_"Yachiru-san," he said again, allowing tension to seep into his voice. "You will do the meal tonight." Yachiru rolled over to face him. She had put her feet back on the bed. Itachi frowned._

_"I never knew you were so… desperate, Itachi-chan, that you would kill a girl over a meal," she taunted, smirking. She had been spending too much time with Hidan. Itachi felt annoyance at the inappropriate honorific she had attached to his name. He glared at her, and she had the good graces to look even a little intimidated. "Yare yare, Itachi-kun~! Okay let's make a deal. Since I am the one that has to do the actual killing on our mission, how about you do the meal tonight or find someone else to, and I will cook the night after we get back, ne?" she said quickly. Itachi mulled it over then grunted his approval. Kisame would do the meal tonight instead. He walked over to Yachiru to look at what she was reading, but she slammed the book shut and turned it upside down so he couldn't see the cover, the spine or the contents. _

_"Hn," Itachi said, meaning 'I will see the contents of that book later', and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him._

Now, Itachi looked over the book. The spine read _The Human Anatomy Vol 3: Respiration._ One of Itachi's eyebrows rose, and he sat down on the library sofa and began to read.

Kisame and Hidan had followed Yachiru into the kitchen where she began to cook.

"So, what crap are you gonna give us to eat? You don't look like a chick that knows how to do anything in the kitchen, and I've been absent every other time you cooked anything," Hidan said, earning a glare from Yachiru.

"Just for that… I will NOT tell you, AND I will tell Kisame," Yachiru shot back obstinately, grabbing Kisame by the jaw with a flour covered hand and pulling his head to her. She proceeded to whisper in Kisame's ear, missing the lecherous expression on the shark-man's face. Hidan glared at the two of them.

"For Jashin's sake, woman! You tell that half-baked fish and not me?" he yelled. Yachiru stopped whispering, then crossed her arms and leveled a flat stare at Hidan.

"Serves you right, you masochistic pervert. And you can forget about the punches, kicks, pinches and all out battering I had planned for you since I missed you yesterday, since Itachi was so _boring_!" At this threat, Hidan's mouth opened and closed in horrified shock. Yachiru had shown true potential as a Jashinist with her constant battering of him – which he _loved_. Her type of battering was the best, even though he was never able to draw blood from her with his scythe, so he hadn't gotten the opportunity to have the pleasure of sharing the pain with her.

"Is that really necessary, Yachiru-chan~" he moaned. She raised one eyebrow.

"Yes it is, Hidan-chwan~" she said, applying a feminine honorific to his name, which horrified him immensely. "That'll teach you to insult my cooking." She turned around and began to cook, speaking to Kisame in tones too low to hear, and ignoring him if and when he spoke.

**Konoha**

Approximately eight hours of running and four quickly consumed protein bars after leaving Shinringakure, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Sakura and Shino finally arrived in Konoha. They continued running along the road that led from the front gate to the Hokage Tower, stopping only at the front of the hospital where they gave Sakura the scroll containing the food samples and the corpse of Miramori and parted ways; Sakura heading into the hospital, and Kakashi, Shikamaru and Shino heading back to the Hokage Tower to debrief. They would be summoned again when Sakura completed the autopsy and made her report.

Sakura walked quickly through the hospital, taking the elevator to the basement floors where the classified operations took place. She quickly wrote up the file before entering the chilly room. Placing the scroll on the metal table, did the necessary hand seals, bit her thumb and slapped her palm onto the scroll, releasing Miramori's body. She quickly got to work, slicing the body open in the standard 'Y' cut after checking the exterior of the body for irregularities. Everything seemed standard at first, but then things got interesting.

**Akatsuki Hideout**

The Akatsuki present at the hideout, namely Yachiru, Kisame, Hidan, Kakuzu and Itachi, sat down to dinner, which smelled absolutely delicious. The food was served on shiny metal plates and looked appetizing. Home-made noodles and beef barbecue with servings of seasoned rice and three choices of pickles. The food was pre-served, that is, already dished out for each member and placed in identical servings around the table. Dishes with extras were placed down the centre of the table for those that might want more. The Akatsuki members sat at the table and clasped their hands together.

"Itadakimasu," they all said, with voices ranging in pitch. Then they began to eat. Itachi was halfway through his serving, which was _delicious_ when the taste began to change somewhat. There was a bitter taste that was getting more and more prominent. He looked to his plate and realized that the food was darker than it had been before. Some was burnt? Using his chopsticks, Itachi pushed the food to the side, his eyes widening at the utterly _black_ food underneath. He glanced sharply to the others, but they had continued eating and chattering. In fact, Kisame had already finished his portion and was reaching forward to share more from the dishes of extras. Hidan grabbed the dish before he was done, scraping some into his plate, while Kakuzu glared at them and at the rapidly diminishing food on his plate.

"Yachiru-san, why is my food burnt?" Itachi asked in a quiet but menacing tone. All eyes swiveled to him.

**Konoha**

Kakashi, Shino and Shikamaru had left some three hours previously. Tsunade was reading and rereading the mission report when a carrier hawk tapped on her window. She looked up from the mission report and the pictures and let the bird inside, taking the message from its leg and reading it.

_Got something interesting. Call the others. Sakura. _The message read. Tsunade frowned a little, and called Shizune. Her aide entered the room, her eyebrows raised.

"Yes, Tsunade-same?" Shizune said, stepping into the office.

"Call Shino, Shikamaru and Kakashi _now_," Tsunade ordered, reaching for her flask of sake. Hopefully Sakura's findings would make the case less baffling than it already was. Tsunade began to pace. In a matter of minutes, Kakashi, Shikamaru and Shino appeared in her office, obviously having used teleportation jutsus to get there. Sakura had not yet arrived.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" Shikamaru said, his eyes holding interest for once.

"Sakura said she found something interesting, to do with the autopsy, I presume," Tsunade said. Kakashi looked around.

"Shikashi… where is she?" Tsunade glowered.

"She isn't here yet. I figure she expected you to take longer to get here," Tsunade growled irritably, flashing a blonde ponytail over her shoulder. No sooner had she said this than there was a knock on the door, and Sakura peered inside, a sheaf of papers in her hands.

"Oh, you're all already here," she said, stepping into the room.

"Get to it then, Sakura," Tsunade said to her apprentice, her tone softening. Sakura stepped further into the room and her expression got more serious.

"Well, when I did the preliminary, I couldn't find anything wrong with the body, but upon doing the autopsy in the lab, I found something interesting." She paused, and the occupants of the room leaned forward in interest. "I can't say definitively whether or not Miramori-san's death was self-inflicted, or murder, but I did find the cause of death." She paused again, looking again at her findings for confirmation.

"Well?" Tsunade demanded. Sakura looked up sharply, her hair swinging in a swift flash of pink as she made eye contact with Tsunade.

"Miramori Oora was drowned, Tsunade-same," Sakura said. There was a collective gasp from the other four occupants of the room. _Drowned?_

**A/N:- AAaaahh! It's finally done! I know I took much longer to update this time, but school is back full swing and I had a severe case of real life stress + writer's block… (bad combination, I know). However, I feel a lot better! Sorry to leave you with another cliffie, but such is life…(^_^). As per usual, please review! Reviews make my fingers type faster!**


	6. Information is Key

**Chapter 6: Information is Key**

**First off, I have to just thank MissMeep for her incredible help! I am sooo sorry that I took so long to update (relatively… I know others take longer sometimes), however, life has been pretty stressful and hectic, so please bear with me! Lil Hidan- humor for those who might want to kill me… *so please don't!* Suggestions, crits, and compliments mucho welcome… hehe (^_^)/ *cough cough* Could not resist that. Sorry for making Yachiru seem Mary-Suish in previous chapters… I will try my best to rectify that! Shout out to MissMeep and Psuedobeast for the reviews… tanki tanki! You make my dark days brighter… with that said... let's get to it dattebayo~!**

-Prologue-

_Flashback is written in italics._

'_Thoughts in italics and enclosed in quotes'_

Normal writing is in normal text.

"Dialogue is in normal text enclosed in open and closed quotations."

'**_Black Zetsu and Kyuubi speak in bold italics enclosed in quotations.'_**

**Bold text shows time frames and places.**

**Previously on Left to the Elements:**

"Oh, you're all already here," she said, stepping into the room.

"Get to it then, Sakura," Tsunade said to her apprentice, her tone softening. Sakura stepped further into the room and her expression got more serious.

"Well, when I did the preliminary, I couldn't find anything wrong with the body, but upon doing the autopsy in the lab, I found something interesting." She paused, and the occupants of the room leaned forward in interest. "I can't say definitively whether or not Miramori-san's death was self-inflicted, or murder, but I did find the cause of death." She paused again, looking again at her findings for confirmation.

"Well?" Tsunade demanded. Sakura looked up sharply, her hair swinging in a swift flash of pink as she made eye contact with Tsunade.

"Miramori Oora was drowned, Tsunade-same," Sakura said. There was a collective gasp from the other four occupants of the room. _Drowned?_

**oooOooo**

The viridity of the foliage whipping past Sukimori Atsuro was of no consequence to him, other than the fact that he was drawing closer to Konohagakure. The reminder of the importance of his message spurred him on, temporarily pushing the pain in his legs, the shortness of his breath and the exhausted state of his chakra out of his mind. The message he was sending was also the kind he couldn't afford to send by messenger hawk for fear of interception. Even though it was more risky to try to deliver the news to Hokage-sama in person, because he could be killed on the journey and she would receive no word, interception of his messenger hawk would mean she could get misleading information that could put Konoha in a really tight spot. After all, this was the Akatsuki they were dealing with. Sending controlled bursts of his remaining chakra to his feet, Atsuro quickened his pace, never feeling his job as a Konoha scout more intensely than at this present moment. This time, for the first time in years, he actually had pertinent information. Atsuro allowed his mind to drift back to three days prior to the present moment.

_Atsuro sat atop the roof of the Kizudetsu motel, his chakra cloaked, relishing the fact that the heavy brown Kizudetsu dust did not reach as high as the rooftop, making it easier for him to breathe and keep watch over the town simultaneously. Atsuro liked to stay in town for at least a week so he could pick up certain details that he would not be able to pick up in a day or two. He had been in Kizudetsu for two days already, and found that simply watching the activity on the streets below made him irritated and tired. The dust was an issue, and the smell of the town, which was lovely on the first day, got old fast. Atsuro absently stroked the shaft of his kunai as he watched the activity below him, a hot breeze sending his dark red hair fluttering in the wind. The shoulder-length strands blocked his vision for a short moment then dropped back to his broad shoulders when the breeze passed. Atsuro's sharp eyes narrowed as he tried to come to terms with what his hair had just been hiding from him._

_Below, in the streets, three cloaked travelers were stalking through the crowds, cutting through the pressing force of hundreds of moving humans like a knife cut through moistened butter. However, the ease with which the trio was moving through the crowds was not what caught Atsuro's attention. Au contraire, it was their clothing that stood out. High-necked, mid-calf length black cloaks with red cloud patterns decorating them adorned the bodies of the trio. Atsuro swallowed convulsively. Akatsuki. _

_Atsuro watched as the one in the lead, who he recognized as Uchiha Itachi, turned to the two following and spoke to them. The other male, a tall blue-skinned man, was immediately recognized by Atsuro, who had seen him in the bingo books, as Hoshigaki Kisame. The other member of the trio, a white haired female, was not someone Atsuro remembered. Still, she wore an Akatsuki cloak. As far as Atsuro knew, the Akatsuki only had male members, so this one was either well hidden or a new member. From his perch on the rooftop, Atsuro watched Hoshigaki Kisame and the white haired female purchase pocky from a stall after Uchiha Itachi walked off into the crowd. _

_Atsuro watched as Kisame and the white haired female talked and laughed, but apparently they weren't up to anything suspect at the moment. Atsuro decided to focus on Itachi. However, when he turned to look in the direction the Uchiha had gone in, he was nowhere to be found. Kisame and the white haired female were ambling casually through the throngs of people on the streets, so Atsuro decided to try to find Itachi. He hopped down in an alley and slipped through the crowds, peering in buildings and peeping through windows, and even though he could sense his chakra, the Uchiha himself had disappeared. Atsuro searched for what felt like half hour, but the Uchiha was nowhere to be seen, and, unfortunately, Kisame and the female had disappeared as well. Atsuro decided not to let this drop. He had to find out what they were up to. _

_Atsuro slipped from the alleyways into the street, and weaved through the crowd until he could exit the Kizudetsu gates. The hunter-nin in him ached to deal with the nuke-nins that were hiding in Kizudetsu, but he was not employed to Konoha as a hunter-nin at the moment, and he would need a proper team to eradicate them. Their number and skill made it unwise to try to challenge them, especially in such a densely populated area. Atsuro dashed into the trees between Kizudetsu and Shinringakure, and dropped to his knees. A rapid sequence of hand-seals preceded his closing his eyes and focusing his chakra. His body tensed slightly when he felt the chakra of Itachi and Kisame several meters ahead. Atsuro began to follow. "How is it that I can't feel the woman's chakra?" Atsuro muttered to himself._

_As they drew closer to Shinringakure, Atsuro realized his attire would quickly expose him. He waited until the Akatsuki trio disappeared inside a bed and breakfast, and then slipped into a bar on the other side of the street. He bought a drink, keeping close tabs on Itachi and Kisame's chakra, and then edged to the restrooms where he executed a henge jutsu and cloaked his chakra further. Stepping out of the restroom, Atsuro looked like a wiry old civilian clothed in the plain clothes of the lower class, with stringy graying hair. He purchased a flask of sake and hung around the bar until he felt Kisame's chakra moving along with that of Itachi. Atsuro kept to himself, watching with the heavy-lidded eyes of a drunkard as the trio exited the bed and breakfast and moved on further down the street. Atsuro kept them in sight, but waited until it would be unsuspicious of him to stumble drunkenly in their direction. In a flash of movement so fast Atsuro could barely see it, the Akatsuki trio disappeared from the streets. Atsuro began to wonder how it came to be that the Akatsuki could walk so plainly through Shinringakure, whether or not they had their streamer-adorned rice hats on. He understood how they could do so in Kizudetsu, for the small town was riddled with nuke-nin and criminals. But Shinrinakure, although small, was a hidden ninja village, after all! Atsuro felt their chakra signals lower until he could feel them no longer. Still, there were only so many places for them to hide in Shinringakure, and Atsuro would find them. His hunter-nin instincts kicked in, and he began to search around the village. He found them in the forest that the Shinrin Casino was nestled against._

_"Huh? Why are Kisame and Itachi just hanging around in the trees? What are they up to?" Atsuro mumbled to himself as he watched the two Akatsuki members. They were kneeling in the branches of the trees, staring at the back of that casino. Atsuro cut a wide circle around them and went further into the darkness of the forest. His eyes narrowed as he perused the seemingly unmoving Akatsuki duo. _

_He felt the arrival of two new sources of chakra and barely heard the sound of a kunai whistling as it hurtled through the air. Jerking back at the last second, Atsuro's eyes widened then narrowed as the kunai sliced through a lock of his henge's grey hair, pinning it to the trunk of the tree he was perched in. He had been spotted! He watched the grey hair slowly turn to dark red as the henge upon it wore off. _

_Turning, he saw two figures that were somewhat concealed by the trees further back in the forest. Spinning shuriken and kunai hurtled through the air towards him, the afternoon sunlight casting pinkish-orange glints on the metal. Atsuro wanted to stay and watch the Akatsuki, but he had to fight for his life. _

_He deactivated his henge and silently reached into his thigh straps for some kunai knives. Not wanting Itachi and Kisame to sense his chakra, Atsuro took off further into the trees, his sharp eyes seeing that the ninja who attacked him were following. _

Atsuro felt the pain in his leg intensify with each step on the tree limbs as he ran to Konoha. He glanced down and cringed at the sight of the blood seeping through the bandages on his thigh and calves. He should really stop and rest, but time was of the essence. Atsuro didn't quite know why, but he had a gut feeling, and he had long since learned to always follow his gut. His mind took him back to how he had gotten those injuries in the first place.

_Atsuro deflected the kunai flying towards his face with his own kunai and gritted his teeth. These shinobi were powerful… at least jounin level! Atsuro also knew that he couldn't afford to go all out, because the Akatsuki were bound to know that someone was on their trail if they felt his chakra too much. He tried to lead the attacking shinobi further and further away from Itachi and Kisame but they seemed to have realized his intentions because they kept trying to hedge him in. Atsuro barely had time to construct a substitution jutsu before a barrage of kunai and shuriken splintered the log he had replaced himself with. His hands rapidly flying through the seals, Atsuro created several clones of himself and sent them running towards the shinobi. _

**Konoha**

"What do you mean 'drowned', Sakura?" Tsunade questioned her student with one eyebrow raised. She leaned forward on her desk, staring at Sakura expectantly. The pink haired kunoichi consulted her clipboard.

"Well, when I opened him up, I couldn't find anything wrong with his organs. However, when I opened up his lungs, there was a significant amount of fluid there. I ran tests on it, and it turned out to be regular water, like that which we would drink at a meal. How it got into his lungs, I have no idea." The pinkette paused and looked up at her shishou. As she finished speaking, Shikamaru picked up the stack of photographs that were on Tsunade's desk. His eyes narrowed as he looked them over.

"Well, that has merit, Sakura. There is a glass jug of water here on the food trolley, and a cup, but the cup was unused." Tsunade growled at his statement. She had never seen Shikamaru this frustrated before. The way his left eye twitched showed that even _he_ didn't see himself figuring out how it was done. The fact that there was no residual chakra in the room apart from that of the victim in any time frame meant…

"Ah…" Shikamaru said. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but maybe some sort of time-influenced jutsu could have been used…" his voice trailed off as he crossed the idea out in his head. "No, I don't think that's it." He sighed and scratched his head. His eyes flitted over the pictures again, going more slowly over some pictures rather than others. He looked up to Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama, I need to think this over some more." Tsunade gritted her teeth and nodded. Obviously feeling out of their leagues and just as frustrated as Tsunade and Shikamaru, Kakashi and Shino stayed quiet.

"Fine. You are dismissed. If you think of anything at all, come visit me." The Godaime leaned down and reached for the flask of sake in her drawer. She needed a drink.

**Konoha Forest**

Atsuro cursed inwardly as his vision dimmed. Not now. This was a bad time for his body to start reacting to the pain. His fight with the two shinobi in Shinringakure had been long and straining, testing the levels of his stamina. The fight had taken several hours, and by the time he had defeated them, the two Akatsuki had been gone. Chakra low and energy depleted, Atsuro had pressed forward still, catching their trail in the Land of Waves. He had been gaining on them, his chakra very slowly regenerating, when he was attacked _again._ This made the fact that the Akatsuki were hiding yet another secret glaringly obvious. When the three chuunin level shinobi had leapt from the trees with weapons drawn, Atsuro had no choice but to use his chakra reserves to teleport himself to where he had placed his wards in the forests of Konoha. Then he had begun to run. He still had several miles to go, and his vision was blurred, his legs were becoming numb, and he could feel the lactic acid buildup in his muscles from running for so long without pause. However, Atsuro knew himself well enough to know that if he stopped for a short rest now, he probably would reach to Konoha far too late to help.

He reached into the pouch at his waist, feeling for a soldier pill, and cursed audibly when his finger passed through a hole at the bottom of the empty pouch. _'Damn it. They must have fallen out during the fight,' _Atsuro thought, feeling the pressure of anxiousness build up in the pit of his stomach. He frowned, feeling the dry blood tracks on his forehead crack under the shift of his skin. He had to get to Konoha. He _had_ to! Atsuro did not know why, but he felt in the very depths of his being that that sighting of the Akatsuki in Shinringakure was in lieu of something big; something serious. He gritted his teeth together, half against the pain, and half in determination. He _would_ get to Konoha. As he drew closer to his hometown, he released the chakra from his feet, knowing that it would make the journey slower, but would lessen the chance of his dying before he could get to the Hokage Tower. In any case, the use of chakra was painful at the moment.

Atsuro knew that that was most likely because of the jutsu one of the shinobi that attacked him used. It had caused pain in parts of his body that Atsuro had forgotten he had, and the type of pain extremely intense every time he used chakra. Taking a deep breath that hurt the cracked ribs in his chest, Atsuro pushed forward again. He almost didn't feel the three sources of chakra behind him. They were following him!_ 'Shit,' _Atsuro thought, fighting the despair that threatened to choke him. _'Shit, shit, shit!'_

**Akatsuki Hideout**

Itachi frowned as the masked shinobi in front confirmed what he had suspected during their time in Shinringakure. They had been spotted!

"Akatsuki-sama," the shinobi said reverently, "We have apprehended the spy, but he escaped."

"Hn. Find him, and kill him. He is not to get to whoever he is reporting to," the Uchiha replied before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

**oooOooo**

Yachiru clasped Tobi's arm in warning. The orange-masked Akatsuki was literally trembling with puppy-like excitement. How someone like him could be in a group like the Akatsuki baffled Yachiru.

"Tobi, keep quiet," Yachiru whispered sharply to him. They were hiding in the trees outside the Akatsuki hideout, covered by Tobi's genjutsu, and awaiting the arrival of Hidan and Kakuzu. The money-loving bastard would lose some of his precious ryou _today_ if Tobi could just _keep still!_ Regardless of the fact that Kakuzu was sexy as hell under his garb, he annoyed Yachiru tremendously. Why did he have to have that grumpy, impatient attitude all the time? The only thing he had in common with his partner was that they were both immortal. Yachiru grinned remembering the first time she had met the duo and Kakuzu had beheaded Hidan. Truth be told, Yachiru had no idea why, but she was insanely attracted to the foul mouthed Akatsuki. It was not dimmed at all by her thoughts of Itachi either. After the Miramori incident, Yachiru thought of Itachi differently. What would possess someone of Itachi's temperament to think of something so… Yachiru blushed. Tobi jostled her arm as he wriggled again. "Tobi, if you keep quiet, I will make your favorite food for you," Yachiru said in a patronizing tone. She realized her mistake in treating the masked Akatsuki like a child and turned to apologize. She didn't have to.

"Tobi is sorry," the masked man replied in a loud whisper. "Tobi will be quiet so Yachiru can make Tobi's favorite food," he continued. He stayed quiet… for two minutes. Then he shifted. Then he wriggled. Yachiru rolled her eyes. A presence alerted her. Kakuzu. Yachiru looked down at the forest from her place in the trees. Sure enough, Kakuzu and Hidan were walking in the direction of the hideout.

"… baka! Why'd you reject that offer, Kakuzu? They cut your strings or something, you damn miser," Hidan was grousing.

"I don't remember who you are talking about. Regardless, you rushed in like I warned you not to and got yourself sliced down the middle…" Kakuzu returned shortly, his brow furrowed.

"_Shut up, miser,"_ Hidan yelled. "You should see the other guy," he said grinning. He realized Kakuzu was trying to change the conversation, and frowned again. "Dammit, Kakuzu, you could have sewn me up faster than you did, and I would have gotten three prime sacrifices for Jashin!"

"You and your stupid God," Kakuzu spat. "I wonder if he has a bounty on his head…" he mused, counting a stack of bills in his hand. Hidan stiffened to the point where he stopped moving, so insulted was he.

"Kakuzu! You miscreant! I hope all your strings dry rot!"

"Then I wouldn't have to sew you back up every time you run ahead and get sliced to pieces," Kakuzu returned, a glint in his unusual eyes.

Up above in the trees, Yachiru turned to Tobi, who was trembling again while giggling softly.

"On three, okay Tobi? I will jump down while you…" Yachiru did not get to finish, for Tobi removed the genjutsu _far_ too early. Kakuzu and Hidan halted their bickering and looked up in the trees. Kakuzu growled when he saw her. He hated that she had no bounty, and that Pein would probably kick his butt if he killed her. Yachiru rolled her eyes, feeling the annoyance towards Tobi that had been building up overflow.

"Damn it Tobi! You… you… UH!" Yachiru jumped down from the tree and stormed back into the hideout. Tobi followed behind her.

"Yachiru-san… Tobi is sorry! Tobi didn't mean to fail the plan to steal Kakuzu-san's money!" He called, running to catch up with the white haired young woman. Yachiru rolled her eyes as soon as he made his statement and slapped her hand to her forehead.

"What?" Kakuzu fairly roared, which coaxed a frightened yelp from Tobi who ran and hid behind Yachiru. Kakuzu stormed up to Yachiru, towering over her. Behind him, Hidan was laughing outright.

"What?" Yachiru said obstinately to Kakuzu, squaring off with him. The top of her head was somewhere at the centre of his chest. One of his hands shot forward to grab her by the throat, but she had expected that, and a column of earth shot up between them, knocking his hand off its path to her throat. Yachiru had to crane her neck to look into Kakuzu's furious green eyes.

"You don't come between me and my money. If you steal from me, I _will_ kill you." Yachiru rolled her eyes at him.

"And then what will Pein-sama do to you?" Yachiru taunted. "I bet _he_ knows how to kill you. You would think a man with so many hearts would be easier to love." Yachiru jabbed a finger in his chest. "One of these days, your money _will_ fail you, and I _hope_ I am there to see!" She turned to Hidan. "Hidan, when he dies, I have dibs on half of his money!" Hidan whooped at her statement and slapped Kakuzu on the back.

"Kaku-chan, you won't mind, will you? If we take all your money when you someday die?" He laughed again, bending over and slapping his knee.

"You won't live that long, little girl. I'll bet someone has a bounty on your head, and even if it's Konoha, I will collect that bounty," the large man said in a low, furious tone, before stalking off into the hideout. Hidan struggled to catch his breath again then smiled at Yachiru.

"A glutton for punishment, hmm? I like that, very much." Yachiru rolled her eyes and turned to walk back inside. "What? You aren't gonna welcome me back, Yachi-chan?" the silver haired Akatsuki asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Yachiru grinned, then squelched it before she turned to face Hidan.

"Why would I do that, _baka_ Hidan," she sneered, glaring at him. She stalked over to him and punched him in the gut.

"_Fuck, woman,"_ Hidan wheezed. "You got a fist on you!" His tone was strangled from pure pleasure. "When are you gonna train with me, Yachi-chan?" he asked, his tone still a bit strained.

"Is never soon enough?" Yachiru snapped, even though she was enjoying their squabbles quite a lot. She just hoped Hidan would not get tired of being slammed in the face. "You only want to train with me for some perverted masochistic reason, old man," Yachiru said, rolling her eyes. Hidan shivered a little.

"What other reason would there be?" Hidan asked suggestively, grinning perversely and wiggling his silver brows. "…and I am _not _old," he continued. Yachiru had to struggle to hold back her grin. She grabbed his head, yanked it down to chest level and ground her knuckles in his head.

Hidan blinked. This was a new feeling. His face was pressed into her chest, which was ample, but by no means too large. The softness against his face and the delightful pain in his head from the ongoing nuugie was … he sighed in pure pleasure.

"Yachi-chan… are you _trying_ to turn me on?" the Jashinist moaned loud enough for Yachiru to hear. If he had a choice he would bury his face in her chest and have her stab him repeatedly in the back with a kunai or something… or maybe scratch his back until it bled. The image was one that he would ponder some other time. Yachiru pushed him from her so he fell backwards onto the ground and then slammed her foot in his stomach. Her eyes were glinting dangerously.

"So what if I am?" she snapped, allowing just enough killing intent to turn Hidan on to emanate from her body. For the first in a long time, Hidan was completely speechless, finding absolutely no inappropriate comebacks to even sift through, much less say. His brain was completely blank. He blinked twice. Damn this bitch, but she was good. She raised one eyebrow.

"Kakuzu got your tongue, Hidan?" she sneered, smirking before she turned and stalked off.

"Fuck it, but she's hot," Hidan mumbled to himself. He would get that, if Jashin-sama permitted it. Jashin was crazy about rules, damn him. Hidan caught himself damning his god and shivered. He was gonna regret that.

Yachiru tried to outrun Tobi, but he was having none of it. The orange masked man was following her, begging her for her forgiveness.

"Tobi is so sorry! Tobi promises! Please forgive Tobi!" he was saying. His high voice bounced off the walls in the corridors of the Akatsuki hideout, and Yachiru swore that if she heard him refer to himself in the third person again, she would kill something. She ground to a halt.

"Fine!" she yelled. "I forgive you, so now leave me alone!" She continued walking, taking Tobi's silence as acceptance of her non-existent forgiveness. She was wrong. Tobi had snuck up on her.

"Tobi will make it up to Yachiru-san. Tobi has a good plan that will make Yachiru-san forgive Tobi for real and smile again like she did before… Tobi has a better plan than stealing from Kakuzu-san directly." Yachiru turned, eyes hooded and a baleful look in her eyes.

"Tobi," she spat. She was about to continue when Tobi flung his arms around her shoulders and whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened. The sneaky bastard! This was his plan all along? Yachiru suddenly had no trouble at all figuring out why he was even in the Akatsuki. The man was as conniving and manipulative as a snake. It did not help that she absolutely _loved_ his plan. He had obviously been watching her very closely, and Yachiru was suddenly unsure of how to think about that.

**oooOooo**

Hidan pressed his back against the wall and craned his neck to peer in Kakuzu's room. He had heard someone in the shower that he thought was Kakuzu, but he had to make sure. It struck him as ironic that he was sneaking around the Akatsuki hideout with cloaked chakra, but then, this was a command from _Jashin_. He could not fail Jashin; not again. Kakuzu had already cheated him out three fucking sacrifices, and Jashin took no excuses. Hidan did _not_ need his jutsus to start fucking up now. Not now that things were escalating. This demand of Jashin's was important too; important enough that his god had visually appeared to him!

_Hidan cracked open one eyelid, feeling the cold chill in his normally warm, dry room. He was in the middle of a ritual unto Jashin, regrettably yet another one asking for forgiveness. He lifted his head to look towards a slight sound, like wind whistling between tight spaces and it was then that he saw it. A hazy, bluish-white apparition was hovering over the centre of the Jashinist symbol with a misty shroud over its head and long, flowing robes. The symbol of Jashin hung about its neck._

_"Hidan," the apparition said simply, pronouncing his name dramatically, like 'He-Dahn', in a deep, double-toned voice. Hidan blinked. This could not be! Jashin-sama? Appearing visually to him? Hidan felt his stomach clench anxiously. This was either really good or really bad. Shit."Are you awake, Hidan?" the apparition continued in Hidan's silence. Hidan gulped before answering._

_"Hai." The apparition shifted again._

_"My subject, there have been few sacrifices to me recently. I am beginning to doubt your allegiance. I am quite sure you don't want to be at the end of my wrath for I can assure you, it will not be enjoyable." Hidan gulped at the tone of the conversation. Damn Kakuzu! The money grubbing bastard would be the death of him!_

_"Jashin-sama, I can explain. My bitch of a partner, Kakuzu, refused to allow me to go after some prime sacrifices! Did you not receive my ritual begging forgiveness?" _

_"I care nothing for your paltry requests for my forgiveness and even less for your excuses, Hidan!" the spirit of Jashin shot back in a hard tone. Hidan blinked, and backed up against the wall next to the symbol on the floor of his room. He cringed at the words that came next. "I have reason to take your immortality from you!" _

_"Please, Jashin-sama. One more chance. I will do anything," Hidan cried out, prostrating himself before the spirit of Jashin. The apparition moved back then forward again, the coldness emanating from it making Hidan shiver._

_"You did preach quite well to the other beings earlier tonight…Alright. There are a few things you can do to prove your loyalty. These things will not be easy for one such as you, but trivial to other people," the spirit of Jashin said, after a pause, causing Hidan to swallow his spittle anxiously. _

_"Anything, Jashin-sama. Please, leave my immortality!" Hidan said. He almost regretted his proclamation when he heard the things that were expected of him._

Hidan took a deep breath, willing the memory away so he could concentrate. The first task was to take the equivalent of the money he would have gotten had Kakuzu not denied him of the mission that would have granted him three prime sacrifices to Jashin. That, unfortunately equaled up to a little less than half million ryou; a figure that one such as Kakuzu would never miss in the daily tally of his money. Hidan was to hide this money and was given the words to say should Kakuzu find out who the culprit was. Peering into the room one last time, Hidan cleared it as Kakuzu-free and slid inside, making a beeline for the money pouch that was not yet recounted by Kakuzu. Kakuzu liked to check and double-check his bounty cash-ins. He would count it in front of the contact, then twice more at the hideout, and then he would add it to the Akatsuki's already expansive coffers, and count everything once more. On the days they did no missions, he would still count the total money they had at least twice.

Kakuzu's room was dark, with only one lamp on the table next to the bed. There was a hammock hanging in the crook between two walls and his bed was to the side of the hammock. A chest of drawers and a closet lined off on the opposite wall. The room smelled like money, and sweat and… well, Kakuzu. Hidan tiptoed across the room, feeling extremely stupid and stared at the bag for a good ten seconds before he had the courage to reach for it.

_'Damn it! If fucking Kakuzu catches me with my hand in his pouch… shit that sounds gay… with my fingers on his coins… fuck, what's wrong with me?... whatever! If he catches me, I might actually kick the bucket! Knowing that damn stitched up old freak would probably refuse to do the sewing the next time heads roll and he might really leave me to fucking die of starvation… because I don't think my immortality thingamajig covers that…' _Hidan thought, grimacing in distaste at the image the thought had brought to mind.

Hidan quickly took the bag from its place on the bed and slid his hand inside, feeling both bills and coins. The bag smelled of sweat and cord and blood. He took enough of the coins and the bills to add up to the total he had intended to take, placed a considerably lighter bag back on the bed, then slipped back out of the room, positioning the door just as he had found it. He had made his exodus from the room not a moment too soon, for he passed a dripping Kakuzu in the hall. His partner, his stitched up chest and face bare, glared at him in annoyance. Hidan felt as if Kakuzu _knew_ that he had the money on him for his partner gave a cursory sniff at him before walking into his room.

Hidan moved to his room as quickly as he could, and hid the money under all his Jashinist symbols, chains, and ritualism apparatus. The next thing on the list was… shit… he had to do laundry.

**oooOooo**

The last time Hidan had done laundry was… had he _ever_ done laundry? Hidan hung his head, raked his fingers through his silver hair and let loose a string of curses.

Yachiru smiled, smothering a giggle behind her hand.

"Shhh," Kisame chided. "You'll ruin the plan."

"Yeah," Tobi chimed in with a harsh whisper. "If you laugh, you will ruin the plan, Yachiru-san." The irony of his statement almost made Yachiru choke. The three of them were watching Hidan from a spot in the trees. The foul-mouthed Akatsuki was dutifully attempting to wash the laundry of all the Akatsuki members. Since it was usually Tobi's job, Hidan had to take up all the laundry before Tobi's usual time and rush to the river that ran close to the Akatsuki hideout. Yachiru, Kisame and Tobi watched as Hidan dumped half the box of powdered soap into the tub of washing, which was by far too much soap, and plunged his hands among the clothes, soap and water.

"Now, Yachiru," Tobi whispered. Yachiru grinned, using her hands to waterbend the water in the tub in a circular motion, which caused the soap to froth up. From their spot in the trees, they could hear Hidan's yelp of surprise when the soap suds frothed over the sides of the tub and covered him in the flowery scent of the soap. Pretty soon, Hidan was hidden to the shoulders in white froth, and the suds were all over his face and in his hair, which was sticking up in all directions. Kisame, Yachiru and Tobi were trembling with pent up laughter as they watched from the trees. Hidan, obviously feeling that he had satisfactorily scrubbed the clothes lifted the tub so he could carry it to the river, which was a few feet behind him. However, he obviously underestimated the weight of the tub, the lack of feeling in his feet, and the length of cloth that was trailing from the side of the tub, which was partially hidden by a white mountain of suds. His foot trembled and got caught in the cloth the very same time that his hand slipped and he went tumbling forward the same time the tub fell backward. Hidan gave a yelp, which was supposed to be a curse, but his mouth was filled with soapy water and someone's socks and the sound came out as more of a loud gurgle than anything else.

Yachiru stuffed her face into Kisame's shoulder to muffle the burst of sound that came from her throat. When Hidan's face emerged from the soap and clothes, a sock was in his mouth, his hair was pasted to his head with a mound of soap suds on the top of his head and in his ears, and he was soaking wet from head to toe. He spat the sock on the ground, jumped to his feet, pointed a dramatic finger at it and began to curse.

"You damn nasty fucking lump of useless thread! If you weren't so useless I would sacrifice you to Jashin! Teme! I should just-…" He stomped his foot on the sock, his arms rigid and sticking out behind him. "Yeah, you deserved that, ya fuckin' _sock_!" Yachiru was whimpering with the need to laugh, while Kisame's shoulders shook in silent laughter. Hidan leaned down, grabbed the sock and threw it into the river, where the current promptly carried the sock downriver. Hidan gave a start then cursed. "Fuck! Dammit! Who told you to-…? Fuuuckk!" Hidan yelled, running towards the river, his drenched Akatsuki cloak sticking to his legs and hindering his movements. He fell face-first into the river and began struggling to get downstream to catch up with the sock which was clinging desperately to a rock. Hidan swiped the sock off the rock and glared at it.

"Who do you even belong to, you dumb foot fuck?" Hidan groused looking at the sock which had a very neat U.I stitched into the sole. "Uchiha?" Hidan screamed in annoyance. "Ugh! Trust you to belong to the red-eyed freak! Teme!" he yelled, while slapping the sock repeatedly on the rock. At this point, Yachiru, Tobi and Kisame had to stop looking at Hidan for fear of ruining the plan. There was still so much to do!

**oooOooo**

Atsuro felt his heart-rate increase. Damn it! He hadn't enough chakra reserves to take on three more shinobi. He hadn't the stamina either. There was only one thing left to do, and there was no guarantee that it would work, but he had to try. Dodging behind a tree, he slapped his hands together in a series of seals.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," he muttered softly as he focused on splitting his chakra directly in three, sending one third of his remaining chakra to each of his two clones. Both clones cloaked their chakra, nodding as he silently commanded them to avoid being hit, but rather keep the attackers from moving forward. One stayed at the current spot to slow down the attackers, and the other accompanied him as he continued running. He ran for about half an hour when there was a rush of information to his head. His clone had been destroyed. It had lasted longer than he had thought! He left his second clone in his wake with the same instructions and pressed on to Konoha. He was close; within the one mile range and he was also close; close to his limit. Already his steps were faltering and his vision was at an all time low. _'I have to do this. I have to do this. I have to do this,'_ Atsuro chanted in his head, trying to gather enough determination to actually get to Konoha and report what he had seen. He felt a rush of information flood his senses the very moment the Konohagakure walls came into view. He was close! He could do this! Even though his last clone had not lasted long, and he was only roughly five minutes ahead of his pursuers, if he could get to the gates he would be a bit safer. Feeling just enough determination to keep going course through him, Atsuro forced the last bits of chakra into his legs and pushed forward. His lungs were burning, his throat was raw, and his wounds were causing him so much pain his thought processes were dulled.

As he neared the gates, he felt the presence of his pursuers get closer and closer. They had such high chakra levels, Atsuro knew that he was history if they caught him. He was only three minutes ahead. The gates, blurred to the point where Atsuro was unsure of whether or not they were as close as they looked, loomed before him. The pursuing shinobi were only two minutes behind.

Atsuro's steps faltered as his vision went completely black for just a moment.

When his vision cleared enough to see again, the gates seemed only a few meters closer, while the pursuing shinobi were only a minute behind him.

He was slowing down, or they were speeding up, or both.

He was about ten feet from the gate when a kunai, which Atsuro sensed but did not have the strength or energy to avoid, connected sharply with his back.

A cry burst from his lips at the pain, but he pushed on.

Two more kunai hit him, one in the shoulder, and the other in his lower back.

Atsuro did not stop running.

He passed the gates, not even hearing the shouts of the gatekeepers. Now, if he could just get to the Hokage Tower. It loomed ahead of him from its place at the end of the main street of Konoha. At least he was a little bit safer and could focus on simply running, on simply keeping alive! _'I am almost there! I can't give up now!'_ Atsuro thought. Every single chakra pathway in his body was alive with pain. Atsuro put one foot in front of the other, conscious that he was digging deep into his chakra reserves for the energy to at least move forward. It was dangerous, but it had to be done. He was glad he only had to run straight.

People in the streets were looking at him with questions in their faces, but they stepped out of his way, and he didn't notice them. Instead, he focused on the Hokage Tower. His vision went out completely again, but Atsuro did not hit the ground. He stumbled, but he did not hit the ground. When light broke through the darkness again, he was still putting one foot in front of the other, and the Hokage Tower was that much closer.

Some kami-sent person at the front door of the Hokage Tower opened the door for him before he got there so he did not have to stop. Atsuro ran, almost hitting aides with stacks of paper in their hands out of his way.

Tsunade looked up from the paperwork on her desk, which she had been trying to concentrate on seeing, when the door to her office burst open. She was about to get angry at the lack of a knock or introduction, when a badly battered shinobi with a chakra level so low it made her heart race in concern fairly tumbled into the office.

"Atsuro?" she said in recognition of the red haired scout.

"Hokage-sama… Akatsuki… in Shinringakure… Uchiha and Hoshigaki… at casino," his voice faltered and even as his eyes were rolling back in his head and his knees buckled under his weight, he continued to try to speak. "There was also… a… another…" There was nothing else but a strangled gasp as the red haired shinobi crumpled to the floor. Tsunade had been stunned into stiffness, but as soon as the shinobi fell to the ground, she leapt into action. Her eyes scanning over his form, Tsunade saw that he was badly battered. There were kunai knives sticking out of his back and his uniform was a tattered, bloody mess, His hair was stiff with dried blood in places, and the color and markings of his skin told her immediately that his chakra pathways must have been damaged.

"Shizune!" Tsunade roared. As soon as she heard her assistant's shoes clattering along the hall, she yelled. "Get Sakura and a medic team here _NOW!" _Shizune's footsteps stopped, and then restarted as she ran in the opposite direction.

**oooOooo**

Yachiru, Kisame, Kakuzu, Tobi and Itachi sat at the table, patiently waiting Hidan's and dinner's arrival. Yachiru, Kisame and Tobi were absolutely struggling to contain their humor, while Kakuzu was grousing and getting angrier and angrier by the second. Itachi had his usual apathetic look on his face even though a glint in his eyes alerted Yachiru to the fact that he knew something was up. Yachiru toyed with the ladle that was rested on the table. When Hidan entered the dining area with a huge pot of viscous, black goo, Yachiru burst out laughing.

"Stew, you little fuckers!" Hidan called.

"What the fuck, Hidan?" Kisame groaned while raising an eyebrow and widening one circular eye. "If I knew you were going to make _that, _I would have made my fish stew so we could at least _eat_ tonight!" Hidan glared.

"Shut up, blue face! _Jashin-sama _told me to cook tonight, you fishy fuck!" Hidan yelled, letting go one of the humongous pot's handles to point his middle finger at Kisame, only to jerk it back to grab the handle of the pot, which had begun to lean dangerously to one side, threatening to spill its bubbling contents to the floor. "Besides, this fucking goo might taste good. You're lucky if I give you any!" he continued, glaring at Kisame before slamming the pot on the centre of the table. "Dish up, faggots," he declared, placing a hand on each hip. Tobi gave the goo a curious look.

"Tobi thinks Hidan-san should chose who should take the first bite," he said, giving Itachi as pointed a look as he could from behind his orange mask. All eyes followed Tobi's and landed directly on Itachi's apathetic but clearly discomfited face. Hidan grinned sadistically, his memories of the sock so vivid Yachiru swore she saw a white sock float through his glittering purple eyes.

"Uchiha Itachi! You dumb red-eyed fuck, you take the first serving!" he declared loudly, snatching the ladle from Yachiru's hands and plunging it half shaft deep into the goo, causing some to splash out the sides… or it would have splashed had it been even a bit less dense. That did not faze Hidan, since he was glaring at Itachi, but the Uchiha's eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

"I think not, Hidan," Itachi said in his usual monotone. A vein popped in Hidan's forehead.

"Your eyes should have been yellow instead of red you annoying maggot!" Hidan roared. "Yellow, because you're a little pussy underneath your fucking Sharingan. Scared of a little black goopy fucking shit, are you?" he taunted. Itachi's eyes narrowed and he paused long enough for Hidan to slap a ladle-full of the black goo into his bowl… or he would have slapped it into the bowl had it not stuck to the ladle. As it turned out, those seated around the table followed the agonizingly slow passage of the black, opaque goo as it descended from the ladle to settle soundlessly in Itachi's bowl. "Heh, this is fucking hardy stuff, eh!" he declared in a tone that sounded suspiciously proud.

Itachi poked the black goo, which was moving all on its own, with his spoon and drew back in disgust. The others seated around the table, yes, even Kakuzu, leaned forward in morbid curiosity.

"Hn," Itachi said, trying to scoop some of the goo into his spoon with his usual calm, but quickly realized that it would take a more aggressive approach.

"Hmmm, Tobi wonders if Itachi-san will die if he eats that…" Tobi mused out loud. Kisame snickered and Itachi glared at them. He took a tentative first bite of the gooey 'stew' then clasped his ringed hand to his throat. The others watched in fascination as Itachi's face turned green, then grey, then red. He shot to his feet and wheezed, trying to take a breath when his throat had obviously closed up.

"E-eto… 'tachi-san… just… ehm… walk it off, alright?" Kisame said in a strangled tone. Itachi nodded mutely, then stumbled out of the room in the direction of the kitchen. Hidan stared at his handiwork proudly. However, when he turned around, the seats around the table were empty. They had all left. Yes, even Kakuzu. Hidan imagined a cold wind blowing through the now empty dining area, and shivered a bit.

"Damn pussies," he groused, dipping a finger into his black gooey 'stew' and taking a taste. He clasped a hand to his throat as his esophagus closed up from the sheer nastiness of the taste of the concoction he made. It tasted so bad Hidan was sure his knees had gotten weaker, and he too stumbled towards the kitchen where he could hopefully get a drink of water. _'Fuck,'_ he thought.

No one saw Tobi duck back into the the dining area and take up the large pot of 'stew'…

**oooOooo**

Sakura knew her chakra was low, but she had to repair as much of Atsuro's wounds as she could so he wouldn't bleed to death while she and Tsunade worked on trying to repair his extremely damaged chakra pathways. It was remarkable that he had lasted as long as he did in his condition. Sakura knew that from the level of damage to the chakra pathways at his neck and in his head, he must have been running while unconscious for some of the time, and that level of determination was rivaled only by that of Uzumaki Naruto. Atsuro had fallen into a coma soon after his collapse and Sakura knew that even though it was his body's protective instinct to incapacitate him so that he would have time to heal, his injuries were extensive enough that he might never awaken. Her own chakra was dangerously low when the door to his ward opened and Tsunade entered the room. The Godaime Hokage frowned when she felt how low Sakura's chakra was, and pulled her back. The green, humming chakra faded from Sakura's hands.

"Sakura, you cannot be this careless! It's bad enough that he has more information that he did not get to tell us, but I can't have you incapacitated as well!" Sakura hung her head at her shishou's chiding, but her eyes glinted with green fire.

"I had to try, shishou. It could help our case! He said the Akatsuki was there, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did. Itachi and Kisame were at the site. That does not match with our findings, but he had seen this, and look what he went through to get that information to us. I have to take his word for it," Tsunade said, looking over the mutilated figure of the naked man on the operating table.

"Shishou, we need to do all we can _now._ His chakra pathways…"

"…will only heal by themselves. We can't attempt to heal them, because they might come out deformed. They have to heal naturally, in the way that his individual pathway formation is," Tsunade interrupted. "Tell you what," she said when she saw the frustrated look on her student's face. "I will continue to heal him while you rest, alright Sakura?" she continued. Sakura gave a short nod and slipped from the room, her exhaustion showing in her shoulders as she exited.

Tsunade turned to the injured man and a green glow rushed to her hands. They were humming softly as the pressed them to Atsuro's abdomen.

Tsunade had left the room for a pick-me-up when the window to the ward slid open and four shinobi silently crept through the opening and stood over the comatose scout with weapons drawn. The leader of the group stopped the one who had been about to give the fatal slash across the throat and pointed instead to the cables and IV drips that were connected to the redheaded male on the table. Removing the life support tubes and cables would ensure the death of the scout without the gore and conspicuousness of spilled blood, and would stop the scout from waking up sooner or later and spilling information that the Akatsuki clearly wanted kept secret. The leader grabbed the cables, and pulled.

**A/N:- Yosh! It is finished! Another cliff-hanger, I know, but… So! In other, less life-threatening conversation (don't kill me), did you like the bits of humor in this chapter? I am especially asking you Hidan lovers. I hope you did, because there is more to come! I wanted to put more in this chapter, but my plot would not allow it, so they shall come in the subsequent chapters, four of which are already plotted! As usual, please review! I am DYING to know what you thought of this story! Reviews make me type faster!**


	7. A Revelation and a Mystery

** Chapter 7: Mysteries and Revelations**

**YO! Heh it's me again! I am soo happy that so far readers seem to like LttE! Okeah, as this chapters suggests, there will be some things revealed.. hweh hweh! I am so sorry for taking so long to update. If it will stop you from killing me, it was because my life has been in an upheaval of late, and I have plotted out almost 10 of the upcoming chapters… so please leave me with my life! So you may have wondered what was up with the lack of Konan… well she is not in this story, because I am just not feeling her character. Sorry to all you Konan fans… Shout out to all my reviewers, followers and favoriters! Thank you Psuedobeast, MissMeep and KiyomiShizuru! Without further ado…**

_Flashback is written in italics._

'_Thoughts in italics and enclosed in quotes'_

Normal writing is in normal text.

"Dialogue is in normal text enclosed in open and closed quotations."

'**_Black Zetsu and Kyuubi speak in bold italics enclosed in quotations.'_**

**Bold text shows time frames and places.**

**Previously on Left to the Elements:**

Tsunade had left the room for a pick-me-up when the window to the ward slid open and four shinobi silently crept through the opening and stood over the comatose scout with weapons drawn. The leader of the group stopped the one who had been about to give the fatal slash across the throat and pointed instead to the cables and IV drips that were connected to the redheaded male on the table. Removing the life support tubes and cables would ensure the death of the scout without the gore and conspicuousness of spilled blood, and would stop the scout from waking up sooner or later and spilling information that the Akatsuki clearly wanted kept secret. The leader grabbed the cables, and pulled.

**oooOooo**

Tsunade spit out a short curse as she realized she had left the patient's chart on the table, and that she would have to walk halfway back up the hall to get back to his room. His current data needed to be logged for the medics on the graveyard shift. She turned around and stalked back along the now quiet hallway to Atsuro's ward, running her fingers impatiently through her hair. She pulled the bands from her ponytails and shook out her blonde hair, pushing Atsuro's ward door open with one hand. The breeze from the open window of the ward sent Tsunade's hair fluttering behind her. Wait, what? She hadn't left the window open! Alarm coursed through Tsunade's body and she ran over to the open window and looked outside, her eyes scanning for anything that looked out of the ordinary. A slither of suspicion and the very faint sound of rushing air had her turning around and looking at the patient on the bed beside her. He was still breathing, but only faintly. A more serious look made Tsunade's heart skip a beat. The IV tubes had been pulled from his torso, and the other respiratory-aid tubes had been disconnected from the nozzle connected to Atsuro's nostrils. Tsunade's efficient right hand immediately began to travel over the body of the comatose man even as the index finger of her left hand pushed chakra into the biometric intercom device on the wall above Atsuro's bed.

"Takuno, get a Special Forces medic team to room 355, _NOW!_ I need gurneys and stabilizers. Also send a set of monitors in here for briefing," Tsunade yelled into the intercom.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama! I'm on it," Takuno replied, his tone reassuring Tsunade that the aide was already getting the team put together. "I will send the paperwork up to Shizune-san's office, Tsunade-sama," Takuno continued. Moments later, the door burst open and a four-man team of Special Forces medics rushed into the room, wordlessly beginning to reconnect the tubes and aiding Tsunade with the chakra healing. Right behind them, another medic rushed in with a gurney and a trolley stocked with stabilizers. The Special Forces medics lifted Atsuro's body firmly, but carefully, and rested him on the gurney. Before his body was even let go by the Special Forces medic team, the last medic was injecting Atsuro with controlled amounts of stabilizer fluids. A white cloth was draped over him and the Special Forces team wheeled him out of the room.

"Take him to B3, room 46," Tsunade ordered.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," the team chorused as they wheeled the comatose redhead to the underground wards where patients with sensitive information were kept. The medic that had brought the stabilizers, Fukari, ran off to seal Atsuro's records as 'RESTRICTED'. As soon as Fukari exited the room, four grey suited shinobi slipped soundlessly into the room.

"Tsunade-sama," they chorused. Tsunade briefed them on the situation.

"Keep the patient under close watch 24/7. Do _not,_ I repeat, _do not_ take your eyes off him." Tsunade went on to give them some unrestricted particulars of the patient. "I don't know who it was that tried to kill him, but we think they might be connected to the Akatsuki," she continued, exhaustedly running her hands over her face as she paused in the open doorway. "And somebody lock the damned window," she barked impatiently, before stalking from the room.

* * *

"I thought Yachiru-san always looked gorgeous, but today she doesn't look so good," Tobi remarked blandly, his voice a bit tinny from behind his mask. He wasn't lying. It was roughly 7:00am and Yachiru did not look as gorgeous as usual. In fact, her white hair seemed to be uncooperative this particular morning. There were bags under her eyes and her skin looked a bit paler, but not in a good way. However, she was not alone in her uncharacteristically unappealing state, and was joined by none other than the ever gorgeous Uchiha Itachi, and the usually dapper Hidan. She dropped unceremoniously to the chair at the breakfast table and groaned out loud. Itachi's 'Hn' was more of a 'Hnnnn' and lacked its usually cryptic edge, and the only words Hidan spoke were curses. Their bad day mood seemed to have leeched its way into Kisame and Kakuzu as well, with the latter still grousing about something.

"Shut up, Tobi. Hidan's nasty stew killed my appetite last night and I went to bed without eating. I feel lousier than I look," Yachiru moaned.

"That bad, huh?" Kisame said with a sorry excuse for a grin. Yachiru rolled her eyes.

"Tobi can make you all feel much better," Tobi chimed in, immediately receiving stares of both irritation and hope from the others at the table. Irritation, because he had no right to be this chipper when they felt so lousy, and hope, because they really hoped he could take them out of the shitty mood. "Tobi will make you guys some lovely coffee," the masked man declared, placing his hands on his hips before fairly skipping off to the kitchen and humming a light, carefree tune.

"Fucking Tobi," Hidan groused. They sat in grumpy silence awaiting Tobi's return with the coffee.

"Does anyone know where that goo and the pot of death disappeared to?" Hidan was mumbling as Tobi came back into the dining area with a tray of steaming coffee. "I don't remember taking it up last night… oh fucking Jashin, that smells good," Hidan said, his voice trailing off as he inhaled the scent of the coffee.

There was the sound of collective choking and sputtering around the room as everyone took their first reverent sip of the coffee. Those who hadn't tasted Hidan's Stew of Death the night before were tasting it now, and those who had, particularly Itachi, were experiencing tremor-inducing flashbacks of the unpalatable goo.

"Tobi must have taken it," Yachiru groaned, looking even sicker than before. Kakuzu tried to get up, but his knees were shaking as he tried to cross the room to get to Tobi.

"So many places have a bounty on your head, Tobi, and after I kill you I will only have to choose one," the large man declared, stumbling a bit under the effects of the nasty brew.

"What did you put in this sh- this stew of yours, Hidan?" Itachi ground out harshly, coming as close to cursing as Yachiru had ever heard. His Sharingan was activated.

"Eh… I kinda just threw everything in, and then added more stuff," Hidan mumbled, scratching the back of his head. "I think the main ingredient was Flower Fresh… it smelled nice."

"F-f-flower fresh?" Yachiru stuttered. "Damn it, Hidan! That is fabric softener! That is not even edible!" The other Akatsuki members sweatdropped as one. How did Hidan even begin to presume that something called 'Flower Fresh' could be something edible, regardless of how good it smelled? Kisame tried to get up and punish Hidan, but his legs wobbled so much he resigned himself to a seated position until the effects of the Coffee of Death wore off.

* * *

Two hours later, the Akatsuki members were more or less back to normal. Yachiru had recovered enough to make a decent breakfast for everyone, and they were all relieved to find out that it was edible, as well as tasty… but especially edible!

At the moment, Itachi was in the library, Hidan was in his room and was in the midst of a Jashinist ritual, Deidara was in his room sculpting clay explosives, Kakuzu was counting the Akatsuki money _again_, Kisame and Yachiru were in the living area relaxing and Tobi was… where was Tobi?

* * *

"So, when are you planning to tell me what happened in Shinringakure?" Kisame drawled from where he sat on the sofa. His feet were spread wide and he was slouched in a classic display of both bad posture and lazy comfort. Samehada was leaning against the inside of his left leg. From her position on her back on the opposite sofa, Yachiru turned her eyes toward Kisame in question.

"You're still thinking about that?" Kisame chuckled at her question.

"Well, seeing that you're not wearing that outfit to distract me, and I have nothing else to really think about at the moment, of course I am thinking about that. We usually create a bit more ruckus when we kill someone that high up on the food chain," Kisame said, leveling a round-eyed stare on Yachiru.

"I guess there is no use concealing it anymore." Yachiru sat up in the sofa and allowed her mind to drift back to a week ago when she had been in the office of Miramori Oora.

_A large room, Miramori's office was painted a deep grey with burgundy trimmings at the top and bottom of the walls. The majority of the items in the room were silver, and some bronze. A large scroll rack adorned the wall on one corner, and it was locked by a glass door that was crystal clear and shined to perfection. Miramori's desk was large and was set in the center of the room on a deep burgundy rug. The desk was devoid of items apart from the writing apparatus and scroll as well as a teardrop-shaped paperweight._

_"You can leave the trolley, Sato-san. I'll eat as soon as I'm done this," Miramori said absently. He frowned a little when he realized 'Sato-san' was not leaving, and looked up._

_'What am I supposed to do now?' Yachiru thought, hoping her surprise and nervousness did not show on her face. 'At least you aren't feeling repulsion. He is pretty good looking.'_

_"I'm not Sato-san," Yachiru said, pushing a smile to her face. Miramori added a little curve to the end of the last kanji he was writing and gently rested the brush in its holder next to his inkwell._

_"Are you new here? I don't remember hiring you, and a face like yours is not one I would forget even if I did partake of my stock." Miramori gave Yachiru a lopsided smile that made her heart skip a beat. 'Really, Yachiru? What is it with you and men? Itachi, Hidan and now the guy you were sent to kill? I guess I can't help it if they are steaming… I am only human after all, right?' Yachiru thought, trying desperately to settle herself mentally. It wasn't really working._

_"I don't work here at all. See…" she walked over to his desk and perched on the corner of the wooden top. "You have some _very _satisfied customers…" she walked the fingers of her right hand across the top of the desk until they rested against the tips of Miramori's slim fingers. "And they sent me here to…" she put her other hand to her throat to tug at the catch of the brown cloak. "Well, to thank you for your great service," she continued, allowing the cloak to fall from her shoulders and drop to a brown pool around her hips where they rested on the desk. Miramori's eyelids slid lower and there was a muted heat in his light brown eyes which had darkened considerably. He swallowed, and took a sharp appreciative breath that pushed his chest upwards._

_He turned his hand over and took the fingertips of her right hand in his, which was considerably warmer than before. His hand was strong, dry and warm. Yachiru's eyelids had drooped to the point where she could see her own white lashes which blurred the top of her scope of vision. Miramori stroked her palm gently with his thumb._

_"And which client was this?" he asked, his voice thick and husky as his eyes drank in the sight of her barely covered self. Yachiru could tell from his absent tone that he was concentrating on something other than the current conversation, namely her heaving chest._

_"Mmm, if I told you, then you might not treat all your customers as well as you do," Yachiru murmured, wondering where her voice had gone. It was also getting harder to keep the focus of her mission in mind the more Miramori stroked her hand. It was a simple contact, but his hand was quite obviously practiced, and the effect was not at all lost on Yachiru. When Miramori wrapped his fingers around her wrist and tugged gently, but firmly, Yachiru found herself moving without pause towards him. In so doing, her body left the table and the brown cloak dropped to the floor with a vague 'plop'. Yachiru didn't even hear it, and tripped over the material as she stepped to Miramori. Her feet catching in the brown cloak, Yachiru felt herself tipping forward and she helplessly fell right into Miramori's lap._

_"Miramori-san," she gasped. She was draped across his lap in an awkward twisted position, having turned her body at the last minute in reflex. Her back arched over his thighs and her right hand twisted painfully behind her, Yachiru was in a pretty much helpless position. Miramori's body was simply radiating heat through his thin yet expensive black shirt._

_"Call me Oora," Miramori said, his voice a mere whisper. He released her wrist, slid his hand around her back and effortlessly pulled her upwards to a sitting position across his lap. He smelled of something clean and spicy and manly; not like the slightly earthy musk of a shinobi. Alarm coursed through Yachiru at the thought. _She _was supposed to be seducing him, not the other way around! Her train of thought met an untimely end when Oora's lips settled firmly over hers. She stiffened in shock for a fraction of a second, and then melted. Instinctively, her arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders to hold herself in place. Oora was not even trying to part her lips with his. Instead, he was pressing short gentle kisses over her lips with his firmer, harder ones._

_He ran his tongue across her lower lip then pulled back and nudged her cheek with his nose while turning her slightly on his lap so he could get a better angle. Yachiru could focus on nothing more than his warm breath which was whispering over the corner of her mouth, and the way his hands tightened around her waist. She struggled to focus on what it was that her brain was desperately trying to remind her… but then Oora dipped forward again and claimed her mouth again in a damp, steamy kiss. His breathing had long since become choppy, but he was getting serious now, and his breathing pattern was becoming more uneven and more audible._

_"What's your name?" he choked out in a short pause between kisses. Yachiru opened her mouth to answer, but her brain was so foggy that she couldn't quite wrap her head around what it was he was asking. Instead of her name, a short gasp was all that made it past her lips. Oora apparently couldn't wait any more for something as unimportant as her name, and claimed her mouth again. Yachiru gasped again, this time in a bit of shock as Oora's hands began moving. Itachi's face floated into her mind without warning, and suddenly kissing Oora was not as pleasurable as it had milliseconds before. Her heart still pounding, Yachiru pulled herself off Oora's lap. This was not the time to get caught up in Oora's expert lovemaking, even though, from this mere prologue, Yachiru had a feeling he was very good at what he intended to do. The temptation to see it through was… well it would have been large if Itachi's face hadn't almost completely ruined her mood._

"And then what?" Kisame pressed. "What happened?" Yachiru blinked. She had almost confessed to Kisame that seeing Itachi's face in her mind's eye had made her game with Oora that much less fun.

"And then I remembered the mission," she managed, hoping her blue friend would not catch her white lie.

"Oh, so then what happened next?" Kisame urged. He had leaned forward while listening intently, his elbows on his knees.

_Yachiru stood suddenly, her lips breaking contact with Oora's. At her sharp movement, his desire-glazed eyes shot to her face in confusion. 'Dammit, Uchiha! Why did your face have to pop up now?' Yachiru screamed in her brain. Her heart was pounding again, but for a different reason. Sensing her hesitance, but not knowing why, Oora immediately assumed it was her first time. He smiled gently._

_"Don't worry, beautiful. I will be gentle," he said huskily. Yachiru felt a little miffed that he thought it was her first time, but then she couldn't remember if it was her first time or not. Surely it wasn't, right? She took advantage of the situation so she could conceal the real reason she had hesitated. She didn't want to kill Oora… he was too cute. What she really wanted to do was banish stupid Itachi from her brain, and play with Oora all night. Trying to delay her mission, whose objective was getting harder with each look from Oora's eyes, with each touch of his fingers, with each of his throaty whispers... Reaching forward, she took his wrist and pulled him up from his chair and led him to the wall._

_Yachiru looked up into his eyes and almost drowned in the heated desire she saw there. She felt her back hit the wall the same time he bent slightly and gripped her hips, lifting her so she was level with him. Holding her in place by pressing his body firmly against her so she was squeezed between his torso and the wall, Oora tipped her chin upwards and began to kiss her again. His lips moved more purposefully than before; he was seducing her, trying to make her feel good, and he would have succeeded if Hidan's head hadn't joined Itachi's disapproving one in her mind's eye. When Yachiru pulled her dampened lips from Oora's, he didn't stop. This time, he dipped his head to the curve of her neck and pressed hot, wet little kisses on her soft skin. At the same time, his hands dropped to her exposed thighs and his fingers traced down to her knees, which he gripped and pulled so her legs wrapped around his waist. Oora's ministrations were almost thoroughly ruined by Hidan's and Itachi's heads in her mind, staring at her in disapproval. Damn them. Damn them both._

_Yachiru let her legs slide back down and she gently pushed Oora away from her. Before Oora could respond, she turned him around pushed him up against the wall. He grinned rakishly at the force she used and moaned his approval at her taking control. Yachiru pressed hurried kisses to his masculine throat then pulled him down to the floor. He sat with his back to the wall and his knees bent, and pulled her in between his legs where she felt with no doubt the evidence of his arousal. When his grip became firmer and his movements full of intent, Yachiru knew she had to act fast. She pulled away from him and made eye contact with him, avoiding his advances and simply staring deep into his eyes._

_Thinking of her actions as some seduction game, Oora smiled willingly but impatiently, and allowed her to 'lead'. Yachiru raised her hands, keeping eye contact with Oora and slowly moved her fingers. Yachiru was hoping that Oora would be so focused on making eye contact with her that he would not notice the water snaking out of the pitcher on the food tray and forming a clear, watery glob above their heads._

_Yachiru overestimated Oora's patience and underestimated the power his touch had over her, for when Oora grinned slightly and slipped his hands under her short skirt his touch sent pleasure rippling through her legs and lower stomach, almost causing her to drop the water blob on their heads. This time, she readily pulled Itachi's and Hidan's images to the forefront of her mind to counter the effect of Oora's touch. Thinking she was doing some sort of dance, Oora allowed his eyes to trail lazily over her chest and waist. He pulled one hand from her thighs and stroked the line of clasps on the front of the corset with his index finger. Yachiru's breath hitched in her throat as the faces in her mind faded almost to nonexistence. She had to do this before Oora killed her resolve._

_"Lean back," she whispered tremulously. Oora's eyes darkened in anticipation and he obediently leaned back against the wall. Yachiru made sure Oora was looking directly into her eyes then pulled the ball of water right over his head. He gulped in shock, swallowing some of the water in the process. Yachiru swallowed, hating the confusion in Oora's eyes and pushed the water into his nostrils and open mouth. Bubbles filled the watery ball around his head and his strong hands attempted to knock her away, but she held fast. Realizing that he would soon push her off, Yachiru froze the water around his head and jumped back from his jerking, writhing body. She stared at how his body twitched and how his hands clutched at the ice around his face, and felt her stomach sink at the knowledge that he would inevitably die. After what felt like forever, Oora's body stopped moving and lay limp on the floor. Yachiru knelt next to his body and pressed her hand to his chest. There was nothing. No movement behind his still warm chest. Yachiru grit her teeth and pressed her hand to the ice covering his face. It melted beneath her touch as she changed its state of matter back to liquid. Pulling what was once ice from Oora's face and hair, Yachiru deposited the water back in the jug. Her movements became methodical and the sight of Oora's body twitching in the last throes of life replayed in her head. She fished one long strand of red hair from the jug and wrapped it around her finger before turning to leave. Pausing for a second, she turned and took one last look at Oora._

_He was laying on the floor, his eyes wide even in death and his mouth open. Yachiru blinked against the stinging in her eyes and decided she could not leave him like that. Pushing his body into a neater seated position, Yachiru closed Oora's eyelids with her fingers and locked his gaping jaw. She neatened his clothes, ran a drying gust of air over his face and hair, then moved away from his body. Straightening her clothes, Yachiru picked her brown cloak from off the floor and stalked out of Oora's office._

"You drowned him. Froze the water in his throat so he couldn't hack it up." Kisame let his eyes wander to her hands, an inexplicable expression glittering in their circular balls. Yachiru sighed.

"I bet you think I am a… I am silly aren't I? I felt bad about killing him," Yachiru moaned.

"You're a girl. And I bet you only felt bad because he might have been a good lay," Kisame teased, his eyes twinkling mischievously. Yachiru grinned and tossed a cushion at his head. It missed by a mile.

"There was no _might have_ about it, Hoshigaki," she replied, chuckling. "I _know_ he would have been good." Yachiru pouted. "Stupid client. They could have at least waited until after I tried him out before they wanted him dead…"

Leaning against the wall right outside the sparring room door, Itachi ground his jaw. So, she had drowned him, then. It was no wonder there wasn't any evidence of anyone being on their trail. No one knew about Yachiru's connection with them apart from the Konoha scout who evidently saw them, and he was already taken care of. Still, it burned his pride a little that Yachiru had chosen Kisame to tell instead of him, and he was not about to think about why, even though he knew. He was attracted to her, because she was different. But he would never let anyone know that, and he would forget about it. Besides, she was close to Kisame, right?

* * *

Two days later, the effects of Tobi's trick were still in motion. Hidan was almost dying. He hadn't cursed in half hour and it was so excruciating he could hardly think. '_Damn it, Jashin! Why this?'_ he thought. It seemed as if the time that Jashin chose to test him, to forbid him from cursing, was the time where things around the Akatsuki hideout were that much more frustrating. Life among the other Akatsuki members seemed unbearable for the usually foul-mouthed Jashinist because his outlet had been taken from him.

"Hey, gramps, you were late for dinner, so there isn't really any left…" Kisame mumbled, poking his head into Hidan's room.

"Wh-What?" Hidan screamed. Kisame grinned sharkishly and shrugged.

"It's your fault for not coming on time," the blue man said without remorse.

"Eh?" Hidan screamed again. "Fff….. For cryin' out loud, Kisame! No one called me! How was I to know?" Kisame walked into the room and stared unapologetically at Hidan who was struggling not to blow a fuse. Yachiru and Tobi stepped in right behind Kisame.

"What's the issue?"

"Why is Hidan-san screaming like a little child?" Tobi asked the same time Yachiru spoke.

"He didn't come to dinner," Kisame elaborated.

"No one f- no one called me!" Hidan yelled again, his face red from the effort it took not to curse.

"Tobi called him," Yachiru said, raising one white eyebrow. "He must not have heard." She nudged a Jashinist talisman with her toe. "Maybe he was too busy with Jashin," she mumbled under her breath, but loud enough for Hidan to hear. Hidan was trembling. The door to Hidan's room burst open again and Kakuzu stormed inside.

"HIDAN!" he roared. "You sneaky bastard. You stole half a million ryou from me!" Everyone in the room blinked silently. They were all thinking the same word. _Shit_.

"J-Jashin-sama…" All eyes travelled to Hidan. Hidan paused, and then folded his arms. "I didn't steal anything from you, you miserly old rag doll. You're only missing what we would have gotten if we had killed those shinobi early this week like I asked you to." There was a flash of movement, the sound of a kunai whistling as it arced through the air, a muted gurgle, and the thump when Hidan's head hit the floor. Yachiru, Kisame and Tobi blinked mutely. Blood dripped off the tip of Kakuzu's kunai and onto the top of Hidan's severed head.

"FFuuuhhhh - Kakuzu! What the hell?" Hidan yelled, his eyes bulging. Kakuzu frowned in annoyance, picked up the left foot of Hidan's beheaded body and dragged the body out of the room by the ankle.

"When you're ready to give my money back to me, you can have your body back," Kakuzu said over Hidan's offensive screams that for once were devoid of expletives.

"Kakuzu! You four-hearted monster! How do you expect me to fill my empty a- belly without my body on? KAKUZU! I hate you! I am gonna crack your masks and sacrifice you to Jashin-sama! Just you wait, you old crone! Puu… Put my head back on NOW, or I swear I will… Oi! Wait!" Hidan screamed as Kisame, Yachiru and Tobi turned to exit the room. "Hey! One of you, pick my head up! Don't leave me here like this! Argh! I hate the lot of you!" Hidan screamed at their backs. He was about to scream some more, but the door to the room slammed shut behind Tobi's back. "Damn it," Hidan mumbled. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?" He sweatdropped and sighed. There was a long trail of blood across the floor. Ugh. Who was going to clean that up?

"Oh, Jashin-sama… help me…"

* * *

The stones and dirt crunched under the shoes of the trio as they walked in absolute silence. They had information… information their leader needed to know. Kurokka Yachiru was alive.

**AN:- SO SORRY ABOUT THE SHORT CHAPTER! I will try not to make this a habit… please forgive me! Thanks to MissMeep for her help! Okay, as usual, please review!**


	8. Field Trip

**Chapter 8: Field Trip**

**Hey yall! Terribly sorry about the last chapter which was really short... This one might be a bit short as well, but I hope it will at least make up for it in interest! Thank you to those who commented and followed! You give me inspiration! Sorry I took so very long to update! I had writer's block... However, I should let you know that I have shot my original story plot to hell, since it was constricting me, and I shall now be winging it.. well some things are similar, as in, I have kept some of my original ideas but without the set chapter plots etc... yes I know, a changed modus operandi... however, now this means I will be taking suggestions, so that's good, right? Without further ado, let's get it started!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! (T_T) !**

_Flashback is written in italics._

_'Thoughts in italics and enclosed in quotes'_

Normal writing is in normal text.

"Dialogue is in normal text enclosed in open and closed quotations."

**_'Black Zetsu and Kyuubi speak in bold italics enclosed in quotations.'_**

* * *

**Previously on Left to the Elements:**

"Kakuzu! You four-hearted monster! How do you expect me to fill my empty a- belly without my body on? KAKUZU! I hate you! I am gonna crack your masks and sacrifice you to Jashin-sama! Just you wait, you old crone! Puu… Put my head back on NOW, or I swear I will… Oi! Wait!" Hidan screamed as Kisame, Yachiru and Tobi turned to exit the room. "Hey! One of you, pick my head up! Don't leave me here like this! Argh! I hate the lot of you!" Hidan screamed at their backs. He was about to scream some more, but the door to the room slammed shut behind Tobi's back. "Damn it," Hidan mumbled. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?" He sweatdropped and sighed. There was a long trail of blood across the floor. Ugh. Who was going to clean that up?

"Oh, Jashin-sama… help me…"

**oooOooo**

The stones and dirt crunched under the shoes of the trio as they walked in absolute silence. They had information… information their leader needed to know. Kurokka Yachiru was alive.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the entire Tobi-prank debacle, and Yachiru's training had advanced to the point where Itachi and Kisame thought it prudent to take her on another mission before she went stir crazy. She was not going to be killing anyone this time, if things went according to plan, that is. As Akatsuki, one was never entirely sure when something would pop up.

"I still think Hidan is infatuated with you," Kisame murmured, a toothy grin on his face. Itachi tensed imperceptibly at that comment, but said nothing, keeping his usual apathetic expression on his face. Kisame's closeness to the object of his infatuation disconcerted him, not that he would ever let anyone know, and the mere idea that _Hidan_ of all people had inserted himself in her immediate vicinity was, if anything, _annoying._

_"There was no might have about it, Hoshigaki," she replied, chuckling. "I know he would have been good." Yachiru pouted. "Stupid client. They could have at least waited until after I tried him out before they wanted him dead…"_

Why the memory of Yachiru's impression of their target in the Shinringakure mission came to the forefront of Itachi's mind now, of all times, was lost to him. Still, it peeved him. This entire situation was annoying. At the very least, he could just wait until the infatuation faded from his system. That was the most logical direction to take. Itachi realized he had allowed his eyes to dim as they walked, and he was suddenly aware of Yachiru's and Kisame's voices as they bickered good naturedly. Suppressing a sigh, Itachi focused on simply moving. He preferred his team when it was just him and Kisame... there was far less noise. However, they required Yachiru's skills for this mission, and the other options were simply ludicrous. There was no way in hell he was going to go with Yachiru _alone_, and Kisame couldn't be trusted to keep things on track if _he_ wasn't there.

"Well how do you know I wouldn't be just as good?" Kisame was asking, or rather, leering.

"Because, fish-face, I am simply not attracted," Yachiru returned, as if expecting the question.

"Ouch," Kisame replied, pressing a hand to his heart. "Still, you can say anything you like," he continued, the faux-hurt tone gone. "Because I haven't revealed all my charms to you yet," the blue man continued, grinning. Yachiru punched him in the shoulder and laughed.

"Don't show them to me! I don't want to see your blue b-"

"_Guys,_" Itachi snapped impatiently. "It would make for a more enjoyable journey if you would _keep quiet,"_ he continued, silently warding off the headache that was threatening to take full control of his head. It was all he could do not to stick the two of them into a genjutsu for the rest of the journey.

"Geez, what's got your panties in such a bind, Uchiha?" Yachiru mumbled insolently, but loud enough for him to hear. The effect of his responding glare was lessened considerably when Kisame snorted behind his fist. Itachi allowed his Sharingan to activate, his Mangekyo spinning menacingly. He bit back a smug grin when their mirthful expressions slid from their faces.

"Hn," Itachi grunted, turning around and continuing. He made it a couple steps before he realized that he really hated the silence.

* * *

Yachiru almost walked into Itachi's back when he stopped abruptly in front of her a few hours later. They had been walking, slowly, because none of them were all that eager to go back to the pandemonium that was the hideout. Between Tobi, Deidara and Hidan, there was never a dull moment, which meant there was no time to just relax either. This mission was an excellent opportunity to simply get away from the noise and drama.

"We are being followed," Itachi murmured, his tone disappointed, as if his expectations had not been met. Yachiru was unsure of what was up with him this time, but she wasn't about to ask. The last time she had been faced with Itachi's red eyes in one of their training sessions, she had been trapped in a three day long nightmare.

"I assumed you knew, which is why I said nothing," Yachiru said, resting a hand on her hip. They were currently in a heavily forested area that somehow did not obstruct the sunlight from filtering down through the leaves, casting a very green glow about the area. She had 'seen' the presences from about twenty minutes before. There were three of them, and they kept a respectable distance between both groups. It was, however, obvious that they were following them.

"We should speed up this part of our journey," Itachi intoned in his smooth tenor, his gaze sliding over to Kisame, who nodded in agreement. Before Yachiru had time to try to decipher what Itachi meant, he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close to his chest. His hands fumbled behind her for a couple split seconds, and then the earth shifted beneath Yachiru's feet. She felt suddenly light-headed, her vision dimming and blurring, and the entire world around her whizzing uncontrollably. The world jerked to a halt after a long second, leaving Yachiru disoriented. She was, however, still pressed to Itachi's chest, and she knew this because of the slightly unsteady thumping underneath her ears. His arm was firmly around her waist, holding her in place even though they had stopped moving.

Itachi's warm, broad chest rose and fell underneath her cheek, and Yachiru didn't know how long she would have just stood there if Kisame had not snickered. As it was, the sound had her reeling away from Itachi's... _embrace_, if you will.

"We're here," Itachi stated unnecessarily, his voice damnedly even. Yachiru wasn't quite sure why that annoyed her... oh yeah... probably because she couldn't even speak at the moment... She settled for clearing her throat.

"What are we supposed to be doing here?" Yachiru asked, looking around with one eyebrow raised. They were in a glade of sorts, rather, a forest clearing. Itachi leaned against a tree, and it was then Yachiru noticed the seal inscribed on it. It was the only one of its kind that she could see, so she was unsure of why their mission would take them here.

"It's what _you_ are doing here, really," Kisame inserted with a chuckle. "You are gonna be doing the brunt of the work." Yachiru sweat-dropped. This must have something to do with her bending, then.

"Okay, what do you wish of me – the ever impressive...?" she dead-panned. Kisame smirked.

"You are to create a safe-house. We understand that you may take several weeks to make a suitable construct and for us to suitably arm it, which is why we should get started as soon as possible," Itachi said, reaching into his cloak and reaching for a scroll case. He popped the top of it and emptied a roll of scrolls into his hand, the parchment rustling as it slid from the metal canister. "Make us a table," he demanded, blinking his dark eyes at her. Rolling her eyes, Yachiru complied wordlessly, dropping to a sure-footed squat, and clenching her fists. Turning her hands so her wrists faced upwards, she raised four earthen columns from the ground at relatively even spaces apart. Aligning herself with the centre of the distance between two of the columns, Yachiru raised a slab of earth from the ground, bits of mud and pebbles dropping off it as it rose. The muscles in her arms bulging slightly under the effort of lifting the sizeable slab of earth from the ground, Yachiru turned the earthen rectangle so that it landed on top of the earthen columns, forming a quickly constructed table.

Itachi moved to the table, but Yachiru held him back with an arm before blowing a fiery burst of air over the top of the table. It glowed red for a few seconds until she blew a frosty breath over the molten surface, hardening it. Pleased by her quick work, she slapped her hands to her hips and sent a grin back at Itachi and Kisame. While Kisame complimented her construction, Itachi only brushed past her, dropping the scrolls onto the table and opening them with a swish of paper. Yachiru's white brows rose when she saw what they were. _Blue-prints?_

Itachi forced himself not to even think about how Yachiru had looked, all strong and capable as she had made the table he'd requested. He hated weaklings. He pushed all thoughts of the newest addition to the Akatsuki and instead focused on the mission at hand. The blue-prints. This was what Pein-sama wanted the safe-house to be like, if possible. It was going to be difficult, but a lot easier than it could have been, had Yachiru not been a part of the team.

It had become quite apparent early in their training sessions with Yachiru that their white-haired teammate was strong. Physically strong. This was probably because her earth-bending depended a lot on physical strength, and she could bend larger pieces of earth the stronger she was. Automatically, Kisame and Itachi had begun working on strength-building exercises through taijutsu training and weight-lifting and Itachi had begun to find himself increasingly disconcerted by how good Yachiru was getting.

His mind went back several weeks to a training session they had been having.

_A sphere of molten rock shot past Itachi's head, missing his cheek by so short a distance he felt the searing heat of the projectile as it flew past him. Yachiru didn't even miss a beat, sending an arc of air whizzing close to the ground with a low swipe of her foot. She had made it out to look like an ankle-swipe at Kisame, who had dodged, but then the arc of air had swiped him off his feet. Itachi drew close to her, his hands flying through hand-seals._

_"Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu." A burst of flame spewed from Itachi's lips, gathering into a monstrous fiery ball before shooting towards Yachiru. _

_"Aisu: Breath of the Ice Dragon." A frosty breath spewed from Yachiru's lips, meeting Itachi's fireball head on before the two balls dissipated into steam. Itachi smiled; her breathing exercises were paying off. Yachiru leapt back, blocking a taijutsu strike from Kisame who had pulled up behind her to attack. Her white hair was flying loosely behind her, swirling with her every movement. Her body slid in and out of the five stances she was trying to master; earth stance, fire stance, water stance, air stance, and the taijutsu opening stance Kisame had taught her. Itachi sent a small barrage of fast moving shuriken in her direction, watching in mild frustration as she dropped low and raised a protective barrier of earth from the ground with a sharp jerk of her fist. _

_He remembered when they had just started training with her, and her movements had been flashy and erratic. Now, her movements were minimal and purposeful, but still maintained a certain amount of pizzazz. Still, she had barely moved three metres from her original position, even though Kisame and Itachi had been constantly moving around her in search of an opening. Kisame sent Samehada flying towards her, but she deflected the flesh-shredding sword with a block of earth which she used to protect herself from the spikes that were currently jutting from Samehada's handle. Itachi seized the opportunity and attacked._

_"Katon: Housenka." The blast of flame shot towards the petite woman, spinning shuriken hidden inside. However, Yachiru had learned her lesson from the last time Itachi had used that attack on her, and pulled a defensive serpent of water around her body, protecting herself from the heat, and freezing it to catch the shuriken. She punched the ice, sending sharp shards careening in all directions. Kisame bounded out of the way and Itachi did a substitution to get out of harm's way. He was in no way fighting at his full capacity, but she was still doing well... and she was getting arrogant. Time to take her down a peg, Itachi thought, his Sharingan activating for the first time in the fight. Her actions suddenly seemed much simpler. He sent a kunai in her direction, just to catch her attention, then trapped her in a genjutsu the moment her eyes met his._

Itachi had to bite back his smile when he remembered how annoyed she had been. If it was one thing, Kurokka Yachiru was a sore loser. When it came to things she did not have a natural affinity for, like avoiding genjutsu, she had remarkably little patience. Itachi smoothed a hand over the blue-prints, allowing Yachiru time to take in what was expected of her.

"Woah, you're right. This is gonna take a while. I wish there were more people like me. We could manage to get this done in far less time if it wasn't only me," Yachiru mused aloud. The next two hours were spent discussing strategies for the best possible way to construct the safe-house. Kisame thought it would be cool to have the entire thing underground, which Yachiru agreed with, since the surface would disguise what was really underneath, unless someone walking above had the ability to see through walls. It would also be a lot easier to construct.

The safe-house was to be several storeys high, with individual rooms for each Akatsuki member, as well as cells for hostages as prisoners. It was also to have a maze of rather confusing passage-ways with small, hard to distinguish markers along the walls for guidance. The safe-house was to have running water and heating, but would be lit by lamps as it only took a minimal amount of chakra to keep the place lit... or matches if one was not a fire jutsu user. It would also boast a sparring room with a balcony, and a kitchen, laundry room and library. An office was to be constructed for Pein-sama's use. Yachiru stood up and slapped her hands to her waist, bending and popping the vertebrae in her back.

"Well, let's get started," she said with a grin.

* * *

Night had fallen over the area, but the glade was still well lit, complements to torches Itachi and Yachiru had installed from dry grass and fire-jutsu. Itachi had placed several layers of genjutsu around the area to throw off any passers-by and the trio had continued to work, even though they were all, at this point, exhausted.

"I think we should take a rest now," Itachi said in a flat tone, surveying their progress.

Yachiru was better than he had originally expected, and they had already cleared two storeys' depth into the earth in a uniformed square of about three hundred and sixty feet per side, and going down some thirty feet deep. After brainstorming, Yachiru and Itachi had aerated the earth that they wanted to lift – Yachiru with her airbending techniques, and Itachi with a powerful Fuuton jutsu that he had stolen with his Sharingan some time ago. This had served to make the earth much lighter than it would have been earlier, and therefore leagues easier for Yachiru to earthbend out of the way.

Being the best cook among the three, Kisame had kept them fed and watered as they worked... and they had worked virtually non-stop. It was tedious, but Yachiru was good at what she did, and she worked fast. Presently, sweat was draining down every inch of visible skin on Yachiru – she had tossed her Akatsuki cloak aside a long time ago – and she had her slightly dusty hair tied up in a large bun on top of her head. She rested her hands on her hips with a satisfied grin and chuckled.

"How's that for fast work?" she said, grinning. "If we get some rest, we can clear another storey easily tomorrow morning and start working on the infrastructure." Itachi was quite pleased. He was not one for manual labour, as such, and there was only so much he felt he could do at this point, since this was way out of his forte, but he could at least help her to flame-harden the walls when it came to that point.

"Grub's up," Kisame intoned, his deep voice rumbling across the clearing from where he sat next to a fire. Lightly salted fish was still sizzling from their place suspended over the open flame and Yachiru had to admit that the scent was very, very tempting. She wanted to eat, bathe, and get some shut eye. As it was, her muscles were quietly screaming from the excessive use. She stalked over to Kisame, the grass underfoot cool on the soles of her feet.

"Smells good. I want to eat and then get clean," she stated, letting Kisame know, not in so many words, that she was expecting him to unseal her toiletries from the scroll she had convinced Hidan to fill earlier. She knew from what Kisame and Hidan told her that kunoichi didn't regularly bathe in open air missions, saving that privilege for missions that involved inns, but Yachiru wasn't a waterbender for nothing, and she was very much a woman who liked being clean. Simple hygiene, right?

She sat next to the blue man and gratefully accepted her fish, which was impaled on a stick. She took a ginger bite of the hot meat, sighing in appreciation, literally feeling the hot meat sliding down her throat and into her rather empty stomach. She turned her head, feeling Itachi's stare pinned on her.

"What?" she said after swallowing, staring balefully at the Uchiha. He blinked, and Yachiru _swore_ she saw the ghost of a smile on his lips before he turned away. One of her eyebrows rose, then she turned her attention back to her fish.

Itachi knew it was illogical to want to see what was going on behind the earthen walls of Yachiru's 'shower' stall. Water and soap suds were running from behind the wall obstructing his vision, and Itachi found himself wishing for the first time that he had the Byakugan instead of the Sharingan. He caught the thought and sent a blast of Ameratsu at it in his mindscape. There was no reason to think such thoughts.

"No matter how hard you stare at that wall, it's not going to turn invisible, 'tachi-san," Kisame mumbled without looking up from the fish he was munching, his tone dry, as if he had entertained thoughts of what went on behind that wall as well. Itachi coloured against his will.

"Shut up, Kisame," he growled, turning his back to the offending wall. Kisame only chuckled darkly in response. Itachi hated that even though his back was turned to the wall, it was still the object of all his attention. He also hated that he could smell the stark difference between himself and Kisame, and Yachiru when she stepped out of her 'shower'. She smelled _clean._ His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Yachiru chuckled, and the next thing he knew, his sweat was lifted off his skin and discarded in the grass. He turned sharply to face her and she gave him a grin.

"There is water in the gourd if you're so inclined, Itachi," she smirked, jerking her head towards her gourd which was standing next to the _wall_. However, Itachi didn't see it, because her hair was hanging down her back and over her shoulders in wet, white ringlets, and the firelight was casting an orange glow over her skin and hair. She also smelled really good... Itachi could smell her from where he sat. The scent was of standard issue bar soap... and her original scent mixed in. He swallowed, standing abruptly.

"Is there soap?" he asked blankly, sparing her a sideways glance. She grinned in response and nodded while pulling the water from her hair with her left hand while blowing a draft of air through the strands with her right hand.

"Washcloth and towel as well. Kisame, I don't suppose you will want to shower too?" she joked, grinning in Kisame's direction. The blue man scoffed, proud of his rather pungent scent. It wasn't all that bad, once you got used to it... just very male... and earthy, with the slightest tinge of sweat. It wasn't Kisame's style really to shower at the first opportunity. Itachi didn't care what Kisame thought. If there was an opportunity to have cool water crashing over his skin after digging a helluva hole all day, he would take it.

"We're buying shovels tomorrow, Kisame," the Uchiha said before disappearing behind the wall. Yachiru smothered a giggle at the unspoken half of the sentence and at Kisame's scowl. _'Because you are digging right along with us tomorrow.'_

* * *

Visibility was constantly declining as it got later, but it would not have mattered to Ichirou anyway. He only needed his feet to know where he was going. The only other person like himself that he knew of was Kurokka Yachiru. Ichirou gazed at the stars above as he allowed his mind to run on her.

She used to be one of them. She used to be their senpai, but she left. Deserted them. Deserted _him,_ and Ichirou was unsure of whether or not he could ever forgive Yachiru for that. For leaving him behind. Ichirou clenched his teeth and his fists, his eyes hardening. He should be moving faster, hurrying to get back to Rikkato-sama so he could report that Yachiru was indeed alive, as they had suspected. He _should _be hurrying, but he couldn't bring himself to. She'd never really wanted to stay, and he'd always known it.

Ichirou could 'see' his two travelling companions with his feet. Nitori to his left... and Sanari to his right. Nitori's hair hung in perpetually damp black ringlets to his collarbones, whereas Sanari had close-cropped, spiky red hair. Ichirou's was the colour of his element, dirt brown, and he wore the soft curls tied back at the nape of his neck.

"Ano... Ichirou-senpai... we should really be moving faster, shouldn't we?" Ichirou turned at the calm voice of one of his partners. He only gave a noncommittal grunt in response.

"Hn... I like this pace just fine," the third of the trio muttered under his breath. "Nitori, I honestly don't see why you are so anxious to get back to ... well... _home._" Ichirou smiled inwardly at Sanari's tone of derision in regards to their place of abode. It wasn't without reason, Sanari's tone, because in truth and in fact, _home_ was not a place Ichirou longed to get back to, even though it was all he had.

"Oh, shut up, Sanari," Nitori said, scowling at the smaller male. "Just because you don't like to train and please Rikkato-sama does not mean I don't." It was no secret that Nitori was the most faithful to Rikkato-sama. Nitori was the only one that had come from nothing into this... arrangement.

Ichirou ignored them both and continued on his pace. A gust of wind wafted over the trio, blowing their kimonos open and revealing the tattoos emblazoned on their skins. Ichirou had the kanji for 'ichi' (one) on his left pectoral muscle. Nitori had the kanji for 'ni' (two) on the side of his neck and Sanari had the kanji for 'san' (three) on the right side of his chest. That was the only choice they had gotten to make, really. It struck Ichirou that the only thing he'd actually gotten to choose since Rikkato-sama had taken him in was where he wanted his tattoo placed. Yachiru hadn't gotten one. Maybe that had been the first sign... the introduction of the first little niggling thought that Yachiru didn't want to be a part of their group.

Well, Ichirou wanted to be wherever Yachiru was. He only hoped she would come back, because there was no way for him to leave like she did; Rikkato-sama was way too strong for him to escape, and Nitori was way too loyal to Rikkato-sama for him to get away now. He was stuck.

The other two fell silent, and for a while, only the soft crunching of dirt beneath their feet, their breathing and the sounds of the night filled the air. Ichirou was just relaxing in the silence when Sanari broke it. He scowled in annoyance.

"Rikkato-sama will not be pleased when he hears that she is with the Akatsuki," Sanari muttered. Ichirou was not sure he had ever heard the redhead speak above a mutter. Sanari scowled and constructed a ball of air at his feet, easily hopping on with his legs crossed and allowing it to carry him.

"What?" he asked defensively at Nitori's deadpan look. "It's easier than walking. Just because your element is water and you can't do this, doesn't mean you have to act like that every time."

"You evade everything, don't you," Nitori said disdainfully, being the type to be up in the middle of the night practicing his water control. Ichirou glanced over at the heavy gourd on Nitori's back. It was a good thing, he supposed, that his element was earth, because it would suck to have to carry such a heavy load everywhere he went. He preferred to feel the ground under his bare feet, the mud sliding between his toes if it was wet, rather than carry a gourd of water with him all the time.

He tuned out the voices of his teammates and his memory flitted back to Yachiru. He missed her. She'd been gone for what seemed like forever, and he missed her pranks, and her stupid attitude when she got pummelled in a fight, and... and he wouldn't spend time thinking about all the things he missed.

"Where do you suppose they disappeared to?" Sanari mumbled. "We had them in our sights and then they were gone." Ichirou gave the wind-user a baleful look.

"With teleportation, it could be anywhere... and she was with Kisame and the Uchiha, so the possibilities are endless," Nitori snapped. "Rikkato-sama will know what to do... we just have to freaking _get there, already!" _

"Boys, boys... is this how you argue every time you think I am not close by?" a fourth voice said. The three males hid their surprise and looked up in the direction of the voice.

Half emerged from the trunk of a tree, a smirk on his lips and his blonde hair and green cloak fluttering around him, was their master. Nitori met the sparkling moss-green gaze with his sky-blue one and grinned, the moonlight reflecting off his teeth.

"Rikkato-sama..."

* * *

**So... the introduction of the Divine Three... or Kamisan...and Rikkato-sama... So, sorry for the incredibly long wait, but I was at a creative impasse for this story... lol. And this chapter was not necessarily as funny as the others, but it was kinda necessary... Review, my lovelies!**


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